Re: : Brontosaurus/Apatosaurus (Was Re: Novel way to reconstruct a skull)

[Stanley Friesen <sarima@ix.netcom.com>]

At 11:15 AM 6/10/98 -0700, Robert Boscarelli wrote:
>Greetings,
>  I've been on several digs with Dr Bakker and he favors 
>brontosaurus over apatosaurus because the former is so ingrained in 
>popular thought and writing. Also, I think he just likes the name 
>better.
>
This is very understandable.  And in *informal* use it is at least passably
acceptable.

However, as far as the *formal* name of the animal is concerned, this is
simply forbidden by the agreed-upon rules of zoological nomenclature.  The
*official* name, according to the official rules governing such things, is
_Apatosaurus_ (note: the formal genus name is always capitalized).

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May the peace of God be with you.         sarima@ix.netcom.com
                                          sfriesen@netlock.com