RE: "raptor" definition

["Dan Lipkowitz" <lipkowit@midway.uchicago.edu>]

In message Mon, 29 May 1995 11:23:47 -0400,
  Timothy Isles <tisles@sol.uvic.ca>  writes:

> A few days ago, a subscriber to this list mentioned that "raptor" meant
> "bird of prey".  I was always under the impression that it meant "robber"
> or "stealer".  This is correct, isn't it ?

Yes, that is quite correct.  The subscriber was quoting a passage from
Jurassic Park (the film), from a scene which irks me every time I see it.
Both modern avian raptors and the dinosaurs with the term embedded in their
names were named for the "robber" application of the word.  Of course,
that's probably not the worst flaw of the scene (well, of course we know T.
rex had a "visual acuity based on movement". You can tell from...er...).  Ah
well; it's good for a chuckle (hands up, all who would remain unimpressed
when confronted with a pair of oversized members of a dinosaur species from
another continent, in a state of perfect alignment!).

Dan Lipkowitz
lipkowit@midway.uchicago.edu