Re: oldest sauropod found

["Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>]

Mike Keesey (mightyodinn@yahoo.com) wrote:

<A _nomen oblitum_ is, as I understand it, is a name that has become
invalidated through either:
  1) utter lack of use for a certain time period (I think 50 years, and I
think _Manospondylus_ is an example)
    or
  2) official ruling (e.g., _Rioarribasaurus_)
 
Although maybe it only applies to the first case....>

  According to the ICZN (4th edition), the term _nomen oblitum_ can only
apply to case 1, as per its literal reading as a "forgotten name" (as a
side note, the term "ubliette" (a place to forget) has the same origin as
"oblitum" and "obliterate", to wipe out [of memory]). A _nomen rejectum_
applies to case 2. In this manner, *Manospondylus* can never have priority
over *Tyrannosaurus* even if the two are found to be synonymous under any
circumstances. A _nomen oblitum_ may be used in reference as a junior
objective synonym, according to the ICZN, but never have priority. A
_nomen rejectum_ applies to a name that has been made a junior synonym to
favor another, if incorrect, name, such as in the case of *Coelophysis*
where a possibly diagnostic type was changed to the type of
*Rioarribasaurus*, and thus sinking the latter into the former. Even if
the holotype is once again found to be diagnostic, the name
*Rioarribasaurus* can never be used without application to the ICZN, if
one chooses to follow those rules. I doubt anyone would accept such usage
if applied otherwise, however.

  Cheers, 

=====
Jaime A. Headden

  Little steps are often the hardest to take.  We are too used to making leaps 
in the face of adversity, that a simple skip is so hard to do.  We should all 
learn to walk soft, walk small, see the world around us rather than zoom by it.

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth." --- P.B. Medawar (1969)

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