Bully for Brontosaurus
I was pleased to see that the quiz show "Who dares wins" accepted "Brontosaurus" as a dinosaur name in the contest which was broadcast this evening. I think this was the right decision but would not have dared put it forward if I had been a contestant myself because paleontologists now regard the official name for this genus of dinosaur as being Apatosaurus.
Brontosaurus means "Thunder Lizard" which seems to me a very appropriate name for what was once the best known of the huge sauropods.
However, it is now the overwhelming opinion among the experts that the two fossils from which the genus was named, which were discovered within two years of each other, and originally thought to be two different types of dinosaur, were actually juvenile and adult specimens of the same animal.
Because the half-grown specimen which was named "Apatosaurus" (deceptive lizard) had been discovered two years before the adult, which was the largest dinosaur fossil discovered up to that time and was named "Brontosaurus Excelsus," when the experts decided the two species were one and the same, they also ruled that under the rules of taxonomy, Apatosaurus should be the official name for the species, and the word Brontosaurus relegated to a synonym.
In spite of this decision by paleontologists, the name Brontosaurus remained in popular use for decades as the most common description of one of the most iconic dinosaurs. I agree with the argument made by the late Stephen Jay Gould in the title essay of his book Bully for Brontosaurus" that Brontosaurus or "Thunder Lizard" is a much better name for such a magnificent animal than "Deceptive Lizard." so hurrah for those who put Brontosaurus on the list of valid dinosaur names.
Brontosaurus means "Thunder Lizard" which seems to me a very appropriate name for what was once the best known of the huge sauropods.
However, it is now the overwhelming opinion among the experts that the two fossils from which the genus was named, which were discovered within two years of each other, and originally thought to be two different types of dinosaur, were actually juvenile and adult specimens of the same animal.
Because the half-grown specimen which was named "Apatosaurus" (deceptive lizard) had been discovered two years before the adult, which was the largest dinosaur fossil discovered up to that time and was named "Brontosaurus Excelsus," when the experts decided the two species were one and the same, they also ruled that under the rules of taxonomy, Apatosaurus should be the official name for the species, and the word Brontosaurus relegated to a synonym.
In spite of this decision by paleontologists, the name Brontosaurus remained in popular use for decades as the most common description of one of the most iconic dinosaurs. I agree with the argument made by the late Stephen Jay Gould in the title essay of his book Bully for Brontosaurus" that Brontosaurus or "Thunder Lizard" is a much better name for such a magnificent animal than "Deceptive Lizard." so hurrah for those who put Brontosaurus on the list of valid dinosaur names.
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In 1690 astronomer John Flamsteed noticed a star and catalogued it as 34 Tauri, the 34th star of Taurus the Bull.
English astronomer William Herschel discovered that the star was no such thing, during a telescopic survey of the zodiac in 1781. Though its movement is not visible to the naked eye, the study revealed it was actually a planet. He promptly named it Georgium Sidus (the Georgian Planet) in honour of then monarch, King George III. The general authority's of astronomy, however, did not think it wise to have a planet called "George"
Following a meeting George was re-named Uranus, the Greek god of the sky. To the everlasting delight of school children.
The school kids were even happier when in 1930, following a year of blinking between photo's taken 2 weeks apart, Clyde Tombaugh discovered a new planet. It was the smallest planet making it a hit with the kids, and was named after the Roman god of the underworld. the kids thought of it as the Disney dog, Pluto.
And so it was until in 2005 a Palomar Observatory-based team led by Mike Brown, discovered a new planet. It this was confirmed and so Mike Brown had the honour of its name, to the delight of grown men everywhere who enjoy watching women fight in skimpy costumes, he named it Xena.
This caused another meeting in 2006 when "a planet", was officially defined. 1, is round. 2, orbits a star. 3, has cleared its orbit of other objects.
Pluto and Xena failed to meet rule 3 so were re-classified as "dwarf planets" - this upset the kids, then the men were equally disappointed when "Xena" was officially named "Eris"