Re: "Last modified on July 1, 2002"

["David Marjanovic" <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>]

----- Original Message -----
From: NJPharris@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2002 9:29 PM
Subject: Re: "Last modified on July 1, 2002"

>  Nothing is wrong with the name *Jeholornis prima*.
> The etymology is "first Jehol bird", [...]
>
> I think David is right, though, that *o'rni:s* is masculine.  Thus,
*Jeholornis prima* means "Jehol bird, first woman or first feminine thing".
I don't think that's what the authors intended, so, should I ever have
occasion to use the name, I'll use *J. primus*.

>From the paper: "_Etymology._ The generic name is derived from the
holotype-bearing 'Jehol Group', which contains the Jehol biota. The specific
name refers to its primitive appearance in the tail." So apparently *J.
primitivus* is what they meant. (Just half a year after a Nature issue full
of "Bad peer reviewers", "Peers under pressure" and similar papers...)