RE: Seitaad: A New Sauropodomorph from the Navajo Sandstone

[Tim Williams <tijawi@yahoo.com>]

Jaime Headden <qi_leong@hotmail.com> wrote:


> "The name Seitaad ruessi is pronounced SAY-eet-AWD
> ROO-ess-EYE. It was in the press release."
> 
>   I had not read the press release, so this is another of
> those interesting and culturally-crossing names, and am
> quite appreciative of it, even if the native Navajo spelling
> is foreign.


Yes, I like these names that recognizes the local indigenous culture (past or 
present), especially if the name derives from a creature or deity (_Seitaad_, 
_Tawa_, _Citipati_, _Kakuru_, _Quetzalcoatlus_, etc).  

By contrast, the name of another new genus of basal sauropodomorph, 
_Ignavusaurus_ from South Africa, takes the classical route ('ignavus' = coward 
in Latin).  _The name was chosen not because _Ignavusaurus_ was scared of 
theropods, but after a local place name (Ha Ralekoala = "The place of the 
father of the coward").

Knoll, F. (2010).  A primitive sauropodomorph from the upper Elliot Formation 
of Lesotho.  Geol. Mag. doi:10.1017/S001675681000018X

Abstract: "A well-preserved, articulated dinosaur skeleton from southern Africa 
is described. The specimen comes from the upper Elliot Formation (?Hettangian) 
of Ha Ralekoala (Lesotho) and represents a new species: _Ignavusaurus rachelis_ 
genus et species nova.  A cladistic analysis suggests that _Ignavusaurus_ is 
more derived than _Thecodontosaurus_â_Pantydraco_, but more primitive than 
_Efraasia_.  _Ignavusaurus_ indeed shares a number of unambiguous 
synapomorphies with the taxa more derived than _Thecodontosaurus_â_Pantydraco_, 
such as a fully open acetabulum, but it is more plesiomorphic than _Efraasia_ 
and more derived sauropodomorphs as shown by the evidence of, for instance, the 
distal extremity of its tibia that is is longer (cranio-caudally) than wide 
(latero-medially). The discovery of _Ignavusaurus_ increases the known 
diversity of the early sauropodomorph fauna of the upper Elliot Formation, 
which stands as one of the richest horizons in
 the world in this respect."