ATL names for dinosaurs?

ArKhan

Obviously no Human era PODs are going to change the animals themselves. Paleontologists will likely find the same fossils of the same animals in more or less the same places. However, the naming of the animals has the potential to be much different. For example look at the name of the most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex (Tyrant Lizard King). It could just as easily be named something else entirely. Just off the top of my head "Tyrannosuchus Rex" (Tyrant Crocodile King), or in a timeline where the evolutionary link between birds and Dinosaurs is better understood earlier, "Tyrannoornis Rex (Tyrant Bird King), and that's just assuming it has a roughly similar name as OTL. Take Velociraptor (fast bird of prey) that same name could be given to any number of extinct birds or dinosaurs. You need look no further than OTL for examples of how dinosaur names could be vastly different if someone else discovers them. For example, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurs are the same animal, but because their fossils where discovered independently around the same time by two different scientists, they have two different names. All this is still assuming that another timeline will use the same Linnaeus system of biological classification as OTL.
 
Huehuecoyotl

Huehuecoyotl

IOTL, Tyrannosaurus was first termed Manospondylus by Cope, and Osborn (who coined 'Tyrannosaurus') first named it Dynamosaurus imperiosus. Provided either name remains in usage, there's a very easy way to have T. rex bear a different moniker. :)
 

Elfwine

Something that also comes up is what kind of attitudes people have towards dinosaurs.

For example, Tyrant Lizard King sounds impressive. Or Bone Crusher.

But how about Short Armed Lumberer, if someone thought it looked ungainly and freakish rather than awe-inspiringly deadly?

Or people could recycle classic names - calling a dinosaur with one horn a something or other unicorn.
 
oshron

oshron

now, do we mean alternate scientific names or common names?

because i'm working on both for a fiction story :D
 

Will Kürlich Kerl

Banned
ArKhan said:
Obviously no Human era PODs are going to change the animals themselves. Paleontologists will likely find the same fossils of the same animals in more or less the same places. However, the naming of the animals has the potential to be much different. For example look at the name of the most famous dinosaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex (Tyrant Lizard King). It could just as easily be named something else entirely. Just off the top of my head "Tyrannosuchus Rex" (Tyrant Crocodile King), or in a timeline where the evolutionary link between birds and Dinosaurs is better understood earlier, "Tyrannoornis Rex (Tyrant Bird King), and that's just assuming it has a roughly similar name as OTL. Take Velociraptor (fast bird of prey) that same name could be given to any number of extinct birds or dinosaurs. You need look no further than OTL for examples of how dinosaur names could be vastly different if someone else discovers them. For example, Apatosaurus and Brontosaurs are the same animal, but because their fossils where discovered independently around the same time by two different scientists, they have two different names. All this is still assuming that another timeline will use the same Linnaeus system of biological classification as OTL.
Click to expand...

That's assuming that the POD is after the Renaissance. Without the Renaissance, there wouldn't be a revival of Greek and Roman culture, and therefore no revival of use of Greek roots for classification and nomenclature.
 
Errnge

Errnge

Gruekiller said:
Both are used in modern taxonomy. See the case of Tyrannosaurus rex. Gr. tyrannos, tyrant, and savros, reptile, with Lat. rex, king.
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Ah, my terrible linguistic skills (or lack thereof) are showing! :eek:

You know, this might be an interesting thing to look at for most timelines, and it seems pretty neglected... I'll keep this in mind for my timeline when the time comes (like dog breeds, and man-caused introduction of new species to ecosystems)
 
oshron

oshron

the most obvious would be to look at synonyms for OTL names. for example:

  • Allosaurus=Antrodemus
  • Archaeopteryx=Urvogel
  • Edmontosaurus=Trachodon
  • Iguanodon=Hikanodon
  • Pachycephalosaurs=Tylosteus
  • Stegosaurus=Diracodon
  • Triceratops=Agathaumas
  • Tyrannosaurus=Dynamosaurus
Urvogel in particular might fit well in Decades of Darkness because of the heavy German language influences ("urvogel" is the German name for Archaeopteryx, and means the same thing)
 
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