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DINOSAUR--

In 1841, Sir Richard Owen coined the word "dinosaur" to identify the fossils of extinct reptiles. It traces its origins to the Greek words deinos, meaning "terrible" or "fearfully great," and sauros, meaning "lizard." Newly discovered dinosaurs are named by the discoverer or by the palaeontologist who determines that it represents a new genus (or species). There are many different ways to choose a dinosaur name. Sometimes the name describes something special about its body, head, or feet, such as the triceratops, which means "three-horned head." Some dinosaurs are named after their size or behavior, such as the gigantosaurus, meaning "gigantic lizard," and the velociraptor, meaning "speedy robber." Others are named after the place where they were found, such as the Utahraptor and the Denversaurus, or they are named in honor of a person, such as the Chassternbergia (after Charles Sternberg, the discoverer). Giving names to dinosaurs is serious business and all new names must be reviewed by a panel of scientists and approved by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.

2006-11-06 22:10:42 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

The term 'dinosaur' originates from the Greek words deino and sauros, meaning 'terrible' and 'lizard'. Sir Richard Owen invented the name 'dinosaur' in 1842, to describe an extinct group of terrestrial reptiles that lived during the Mesozoic. At that time, he had only three or four dinosaur skeletons to consider, but many hundreds more have been found since 1842.
Hope this helps.

2006-11-06 22:06:41 · answer #2 · answered by pete_ramsden 2 · 0 0

The taxon Dinosauria was formally named by the English palaeontologist Richard Owen in 1842 as "a distinct tribe or suborder of Saurian reptiles". The term is derived from the Greek words δεινός (deinos meaning "terrible", "fearsome" or "formidable") and σαύρα (saura meaning "lizard" or "reptile"). Owen chose it to express his awe at the size and majesty of the extinct animals, not out of fear or trepidation at their size and often-formidable arsenal of teeth and claws.

Dinosaurs were an extremely varied group of animals; according to a 2006 study, 527 dinosaur genera have been identified with certainty so far, and 1,844 genera are believed to have existed. Some were herbivorous, others carnivorous. Some dinosaurs were bipeds, some were quadrupeds, and others, such as Ammosaurus and Iguanodon, could walk just as easily on two or four legs. Regardless of body type, nearly all known dinosaurs were well-adapted for a predominantly terrestrial, rather than aquatic or aerial, habitat.

2006-11-06 22:08:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Terrible Lizard

2006-11-06 22:42:47 · answer #4 · answered by ispakles 3 · 0 0

The call skill "negative Lizard" in Latin*, that's the language used for most clinical names with the aid of the undeniable fact that's a lifeless language, no custom speaks it anymore. The call develop into coined through Sir Richard Owen, who initially defined the creatures as tremendous lizards, notwithstanding it did not take lengthy for people to comprehend that they were some thing diverse than lizards. *strong call - I regarded it up, that's Greek and by no skill Latin. My mistake.

2016-10-16 07:56:51 · answer #5 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

Dinosaur translates as Monstrous lizard.

2006-11-06 22:04:48 · answer #6 · answered by Dr Fill 3 · 0 0

1. any chiefly terrestrial, herbivorous or carnivorous reptile of the extinct orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, from the Mesozoic Era, certain species of which are the largest known land animals.
2. something that is unwieldy in size, anachronistically outmoded, or unable to adapt to change: The old steel mill was a dinosaur that cost the company millions to operate.

2006-11-06 22:05:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Sir Richard Owen coined the word dinosaur, meaning "fearfully great lizard," in 1842. In Greek, "deinos" means "fearfully great" and "sauros" means "lizard."

Hope this is what you were looking for!

2006-11-09 04:36:49 · answer #8 · answered by roxy 3 · 0 0

A bit of additional trivia: The Chinese translate "dinosaur" as "kong long" - lierally "dreadful dragon".

Dinosaurs, of course, were not in fact lizards at all, and by some classifications not even reptiles. And many of them weren't particularyl terible, either.

Then again, I know a lot of Homo sapiens who aren't very wise!

2006-11-06 22:58:29 · answer #9 · answered by Paul FB 3 · 0 0

the Greek words “deinos” (meaning “terrible”) and “sauros” lizard were used to coin the term dinosaur.

2006-11-07 00:43:57 · answer #10 · answered by Aravind K 2 · 0 0

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