RE: Did pterosaurs feed by skimming? --->'raptor'

[Chris Glen <s370548@student.uq.edu.au>]

> The term "raptor" was used for birds of prey LONG before 
> Crichton (%$#@! bless his heart) used it as an informal term 
> for small non-avian theropods.  In my opinion, the ONLY 
> correct use for the term is for birds of prey.  I don't care 
> who is using the term, or in what context.

I agree. Though it is useful shorthand when talking about dromaeosaurs, 
particularly to non-specialist public in casual conversation and 
striving to get them to know what I'm talking about. 
...and then still often get a reply like 
'ah, like Stegosaurus? I like Stegosaurus.' at which point 
I give up on the subject of dinosaurs (let alone the etymology of the 
word 'raptor') and make a cup of tea. I like tea. It stays quiet 
(and makes a fantastic cameo in Douglas Adams' writings, 
which I almost like as much as tea).
 
> It's like the term "diversity", which had a long history in a 
> variety of fields before politicians/sociologists/ whatever 
> hijacked it to describe variants within one 
> not-particularly-interesting primate species.  Whenever the 
> term "diversity" is used without qualification on my campus, 
> I respond as though the term were being used to describe some 
> component of species diversity in ecological communities.  
> This makes for interesting conversations with administrators, 
> but Full Professor means you never have to say you're sorry.

That's great... Something to look forward to being able to do myself
if I make it that far!

Off to make some tea,
(procrastinating post grad...) 
Chris