fed up

[Farlow@IPFW.EDU (Farlow,James)]

     OK, folks, about whether tyrannosaurs are raptors, feathered or not, 
     and who else is/is not a raptor----I've HAD IT!!!!!
     
     Let me tell you what a raptor is, once and for all:  a raptor is a 
     member of the Orders Falconiformes or Strigiformes: a hawk, eagle, 
     falcon, owl or one of the relatives of said beasts.  Period.  End of 
     discussion.  Tyrannosaurs are NOT raptors.  Dromaeosaurids are NOT 
     raptors.  The term "raptor" had a well-defined meaning _LONG_ before 
     Mr. Crichton expropriated it, and I for one refuse to allow a 
     perfectly good term to get hijacked by the Hollywood-contaminated 
     popular culture without dragging my heels and squawking to high 
     heaven.  Using the term "raptor" to refer to ANY non-avian dinosaur 
     does nothing but introduce confusion.  It's OK for six-year-olds, who 
     don't know any better, to call predatory dinosaurs "raptors", I 
     suppose, but for anybody else--and particularly professional 
     paleontologists--to confuse the meaning of an established and 
     honorable biological term is, IMHO, grounds for a public flogging.  
     STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT STOP 
     IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
     Otherwise I shall have to crawl through the ether to beat offenders 
     over the head with a copy of Sibley and Ahlquist.  
     
     You have been warned.
     
     
     Grumpy in Fort Wayne