GALTONIA THE FLOWER

[<darren.naish@port.ac.uk>]

Hi all.

I happened to be watching a TV programme about gardening last night 
(err, right after watching The Empire Strikes Back of course) and I was 
intrigued to discover that there is a small flowering plant called 
_Galtonia_.

I cannot find any plant name database on the www (my usual port of 
call is http://www.biosis.org.uk/triton/indexfm.htm) but assume that 
this was named before _Galtonia_ Hunt and Lucas 1994. I think I 
remember hearing that it's Ok for plant and animal taxa to bear the 
same names but, even so, I thought this was interesting.

On the subject of dinosaur names, David Martill and I are mentioned in 
association with _Misiakasaurus_ in the new ish of _Geoscientist_ 
(Mar. 2001, Vol. 11, 3, pp. 10-11). This is because of the taxon's 
irreverent specific name and our earlier article on the same subject 
('Dumbing down the Latin name: should it be halted?') - this article 
was itself a response to a disapproving article by Bill Sarjeant. Sarjeant 
had argued that names such as _Zigzagiceras_, _Arthurdactylus 
conandoylei_, _Iyaiyai_, and _Godzillius_ marked declining standards.

I'm going to name my next dinosaur after Grimlock, the dinobot. 
Shame he wasn't a decepticon.

DARREN NAISH 
PALAEOBIOLOGY RESEARCH GROUP
School of Earth & Environmental Sciences
UNIVERSITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Burnaby Building
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