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Re: Raptorex, the new tiny tyrant



Mike Keesey <keesey@gmail.com> wrote:

> Actually, I can't think of a single dinosaur species where
> the *species epithet* ends in "-saurus".

_Archaeornithoides deinosauriscus_ comes closest.  The species name just means 
"little dinosaur".

Speaking of little... according to the evolutionary scenario put forward in the 
Science paper, the tiny, functionally didactyl forelimbs of tyrannosaurids came 
*before* the increase in body size.  This means that the puny forelimbs 
survived the upscaling of body size.  So presumably, the forelimbs were 
functional throughout this trajectory.


> "Raptorex" seems a very odd way to combine the root words,
> kind of like "crooking" ("crook" + "king").


It's not a great name, but it does succeed in grabbing one's attention.  That's 
the point, I suppose.  Much like the name _Dracorex_ (pachycephalosaur), which 
had the same intention.


Cheers

Tim