Spelling prehistoric animal names

[Plasticbeast95]

Aye, that'd be Yi qi, the zany scansoriopterygid with the membranous wings.

Oh ya, I remember now, the so called "bat-saurus" that was the center of dinohype a while back. How could I forget. :Embarrassed

[Gwangi]

There are a lot of strange prehistoric names out there and I don't think anyone (even professionals) can claim that they have the capacity to spell them all correctly off the top of their head. The recent dinosaurs out of China are particularly hard to spell (and even say). Generally I can spell the dinosaur name I'm talking about offhand without a problem but on occasion I have to get on Google too. Everyone does.

Macrauchenia is a particularly bad one for me. Beipiaosaurus is one I've only recently gotten the hang of.

[Ikessauro]

Wow! When i suggested this topic I didn't think it would be so popular! I'm happy with how the discussion is going. In my experience I always memorize the names very well, sometimes being a Portuguese speaker helps with Latin(ized) words. Also, I'm a teacher, so I feel like I must get things right. That's part of the reason I nitpick at misspellings.

Another popular listake is "Stegasaurus" instead of Stegosaurus. Same (or similar) thing happens with Amargasaurus, which is misspelled "Amargosaurus" sometimes.

I guess that the issue with Yi qi is that we are not used to the asian dialect sound so much. The genus name isolated does not sound like a word at all. In Portuguese the sound of Yi is equivalent to the sound of letter "i" alone. We must feel compeled to say the whole name to show that it is in fact something meaningful. It's not quite the same as Tyrannosaurus rex, because in this case people use the whole name just because it makes the dino seem cooler, if that's possible .

[E.D.G.E. (PainterRex)]

Parasaurolophus, Pteranodon, Apatosaurus were all hard for me to know when I was little, I mispronounced them and thought I was right, I mispronounced them as; Pear-Ah-Sore-Oh-Loaf-Us, Tera-Oh-Don, Pat-Oh-Sore-Us

[Megalosaurus]

In spanish the sound produced for a character is diferent from the sound in english, and even the dinosaur names are hispanised both in writing and pronunciation (example: Estegosaurio). So spelling a dinosaur name in other language will be a nightmare. 

[Gwangi]

I should also point out that being scientific names, the names of dinosaurs and other extinct animals should be italicized. I purposely don't do because typically it's just a simple forum post I'm writing. If I were writing an article (or review) I would be more concerned with it, but not here in casual conversation.

[Halichoeres]

I should also point out that being scientific names, the names of dinosaurs and other extinct animals should be italicized. I purposely don't do because typically it's just a simple forum post I'm writing. If I were writing an article (or review) I would be more concerned with it, but not here in casual conversation.

Yup. I don't know a single scientist who italicizes a binomial in emails, for example. It's really just for published work.

I used to be really uptight about spelling errors and so forth, to the point that I ran a blog with a feature called "Solecism of the Week," where I would mock malapropisms that I found in print/on TV/on commercial Web sites (don't Google it; it's under password protection because it was so profane I was afraid it would cost me professional opportunities). I look back at that kind of anal retention and I want to punch my younger self in the face. I can definitely understand why it would be irritating to find errors in a venue like Prehistoric Times, but I just can't work up the energy to care about someone misspelling something on an Internet forum. Especially this one, which has so many very young members.

[Ikessauro]

I should also point out that being scientific names, the names of dinosaurs and other extinct animals should be italicized. I purposely don't do because typically it's just a simple forum post I'm writing. If I were writing an article (or review) I would be more concerned with it, but not here in casual conversation.

Yup. I don't know a single scientist who italicizes a binomial in emails, for example. It's really just for published work.

I can definitely understand why it would be irritating to find errors in a venue like Prehistoric Times, but I just can't work up the energy to care about someone misspelling something on an Internet forum. Especially this one, which has so many very young members.

I sometimes use italics, sometimes I don't, afterall it's a forum as you guys said. What did bother me in the first place were the errors in PT. I go agree, we don't need to be very harsh about misspellings in the forum, although I think a simple tip of how to spell a name correctly doesn't hurt anyone.

[DinoToyForum]

I tend not to italicise genus/species names on the forum or in emails, unless it is important to do so for clarity (as below). I do in blog articles, which I regard as a little more formal, and always in papers (obviously).

I second Ikessauro's point about Yi qi. The whole point of taxonomy is clarity, so Yi is a stupid genus name. What next? A genus called Ai? or He? Ai is a funny looking creature that spends much time on the dinotoyforum. He gets confused when palaeontologists give animals genus names consisting of a single syllable open to misunderstanding. He and Ai are closely related, but He is taller than Ai, and both of them are less hairy than Yu.

[stargatedalek]

I don't normally italicize if I'm only using the genus name or if I'm on mobile, but if I'm using the full binomial name and if I can I prefer to italicize.

[Sim]

"Cryptoclidus" looks like an unjustified emendation to me, rather than a simple mistake - that is, somebody thought the original name was improperly spelled and "corrected" it. In this case, the Greek diphthong "ei" is changed to its usual Latinized spelling "i". There was long a similar issue with the (extant) snake genus Agkistrodon, which many workers "corrected" to Ancistrodon, which is the proper Latinization (but the rules of nomenclature don't require proper Latinization)! I think this was more of an issue several decades ago, before workers felt the iron fist of the ICZN close around them.

Cryptoclidus is the original and correct name!: https://plesiosauria.com/cryptoclidus.php

[Takama]

Italicizing names is somthing i never do often on the internet, mainly because most of the places I visit don't have a option to do that.

I do Italicize Each Dinosaur name in my Documents pertaining to The Animasaurus Collection.

[Ezikot]

maybe a bit OT, but...
do you pronounce scientific names in latin or in english?
(i'm italian and it's weird for me hearing something like "traɪˈserətɒps" horridus)

[Halichoeres]

I second Ikessauro's point about Yi qi. The whole point of taxonomy is clarity, so Yi is a stupid genus name. What next? A genus called Ai? or He? Ai is a funny looking creature that spends much time on the dinotoyforum. He gets confused when palaeontologists give animals genus names consisting of a single syllable open to misunderstanding. He and Ai are closely related, but He is taller than Ai, and both of them are less hairy than Yu.

Ha! But Hu's on first, right?

I sometimes use italics, sometimes I don't, afterall it's a forum as you guys said. What did bother me in the first place were the errors in PT. I go agree, we don't need to be very harsh about misspellings in the forum, although I think a simple tip of how to spell a name correctly doesn't hurt anyone.

I agree, it doesn't hurt anyone, especially if they're asking.

maybe a bit OT, but...
do you pronounce scientific names in latin or in english?
(i'm italian and it's weird for me hearing something like "traɪˈserətɒps" horridus)

It depends where I am. In English speaking countries I anglicize them ("daɪˈmɛtrədɒn"), but in Spanish speaking countries I hispanicize them. I'm not really pronouncing them in Latin in either case, but the latter is certainly much closer.

[Sim]

I remember how most prehistoric names are spelt, but one that I've always found hard to remember the correct spelling of is... Psittacosaurus.  Even as I was writing this I didn't remember how it was spelt!  Hopefully this time I'll remember it!

I should also point out that being scientific names, the names of dinosaurs and other extinct animals should be italicized. I purposely don't do because typically it's just a simple forum post I'm writing. If I were writing an article (or review) I would be more concerned with it, but not here in casual conversation.

That's how I feel about this too.  I'd only italicise the names in casual conversation if it was needed for clarity.  Somewhat related to this, I've sometimes seen people italicise names that aren't scientific names and so shouldn't be in italics in that context, like "Wooly rhino" and "Megalodon" (the latter referring to the shark, not the genus).

I go agree, we don't need to be very harsh about misspellings in the forum, although I think a simple tip of how to spell a name correctly doesn't hurt anyone.

I agree.  If I kept on misspelling something, I'd want to know this.  A member on here who spelled "Utahraptor" as two words was grateful when another member (it wasn't me) told him it was one word.  I think there are other people too who would appreciate being told how to spell a name correctly if they kept on misspelling it.

maybe a bit OT, but...
do you pronounce scientific names in latin or in english?
(i'm italian and it's weird for me hearing something like "traɪˈserətɒps" horridus)

I can speak English and Italian.  I pronounce the names in the language I'm speaking in.  Sometimes there isn't a big difference between English and Italian pronunciations, but sometimes there is like with "Triceratops"!

[Sim]

Since my previous post in this thread, I've been remembering how to spell Psittacosaurus.    Muttaburrasaurus is another name I've found hard to remember the spelling of, although I remembered (or guessed correctly?) how it's spelt while writing this post!

A misspelling I've been seeing quite a bit lately is "Baryonix".  It's "Baryonyx". 

[PaleoMatt]

What about Spineosaurus