Common Names for prehistoric animals

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

I know that this topic has been discussed before, but I thought I would add some ideas to the pile while I remembered.
So you know how some of the prehistoric animals that humans lived with garnered common names? Woolly Mammoth, Saber-Toothed Tiger/Cat, Giant Sloth, etc. So why not do so for the pre-prehistoric animals? I am sure many are already aware of the premise, but let's get into it again.

My ideas:
Boomflutes (Hadrosaurs)
       Tubeflutes (Parasaurolophus and close kin)
Grublumps (Ankylosaurs)
Shacklebacks (Stegosaurs)
Shieldheads (Ceratopsians)
Beaklets (Primitive Ceratopsians)
Snurtles (Most Sauropods)
      Titanslights (Titanosaurs)

Grizzlyhawk (Tyrannosaurus, this was attributed by RJ Palmer)
Chicken-Parrots (Oviraptorosaurs)
Slothorons (Therizinosaurs)

[HD-man]

I know that this topic has been discussed before, but I thought I would add some ideas to the pile while I remembered.
So you know how some of the prehistoric animals that humans lived with garnered common names? Woolly Mammoth, Saber-Toothed Tiger/Cat, Giant Sloth, etc. So why not do so for the pre-prehistoric animals? I am sure many are already aware of the premise, but let's get into it again.

Holtz beat you too it by ~9 years (See "Table of contents"): http://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Dinosaurs:%20The%20Most%20Complete,%20Up-to-Date%20Encyclopedia%20for%20Dinosaur%20Lovers%20of%20All%20Ages

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

I know that this topic has been discussed before, but I thought I would add some ideas to the pile while I remembered.
So you know how some of the prehistoric animals that humans lived with garnered common names? Woolly Mammoth, Saber-Toothed Tiger/Cat, Giant Sloth, etc. So why not do so for the pre-prehistoric animals? I am sure many are already aware of the premise, but let's get into it again.

Holtz beat you too it by ~9 years (See "Table of contents"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinosaurs_(book)

I don't seem to see where he did that specifically, could you point it out (are you talking about the subtitles of the chapter names? that does not really seem like what I was talking about, but I am sure that the idea has been done many times before

[Mamasaurus]

I've always liked the idea of common names for dinosaurs.  The average Jo, and even many cat enthusiasts, don't call cats a feline. And most people don't call a fox vulpes vulpes. We call them foxes. 

Of course some groups of dinosaurs have already been given vernacular names, like raptors, longnecks, and duckbills.

I like shieldheads and beaklets for the ceratopsians. And I've heard trikes used to describe triceratops and company.

I've also heard ankylosaurs described as tanks, which sounds suitable.

Grizzlyhawk sounds awesome for tyrannosaurus and company. A good description of the sort of niche they probably fit into. 

I'm curious to see how this thread develops. It's been talked about before, but common names are really more of an organic thing. Like T-Rex for Tyrannosaurus rex. The more something is talked about in the media or a popular franchise like Jurassic Park, then the more people are likely to use a shorter, more easily remembered terms. I've been thinking about it a lot since I've been working on Pete's Paleo Petshop. If we could have dinosaurs for pets we'd have shorter names for them for sure. 

[HD-man]

I don't seem to see where he did that specifically, could you point it out (are you talking about the subtitles of the chapter names? that does not really seem like what I was talking about, but I am sure that the idea has been done many times before

Yes, I am referring to the chapter subtitles (specifically, Chapters 12-35).

[CarnegieCollector]

Therizinosaurids are DANGAH FLOOFS

[The Atroxious]

Therizinosaurids are DANGAH FLOOFS

I always call therizinosaurs "swordstriches" colloquially, as a portmanteau of "ostrich" and "sword". I imagine they'd be excellent war beasts, charging into battle, kicking and slicing their way through the enemy troops...but maybe that's just me.

An interesting note about etymology: Most animals have very ancient common names that were basic descriptors in their original languages, then taken and changed in pronunciation as neighboring cultures would borrow the original words. For instance, the word "fox" originally came from a Germanic word referring to a bushy tail, and the word "eagle" from a Latin word that (supposedly) refers to a dark colored bird. In other instances, the common name is a lowercase version of the genus name, such as gorilla or iguana. It's relatively rare that animals have descriptive English common names, most of those being birds presumably because of the sheer number of species that were not differentiated until relatively recently in human history.

I imagine that over time, the common names of non-avian dinosaurs will just become lowercase versions of their genus names, akin to the gorilla. Tyrannosaurus will become tyrannosaurus, and Stegosaurus will become stegosaurus. Their scientific names are too well embedded in informal speech for there to be a drastic change in what we call them.

[Mamasaurus]

Atroxious has a good point, but long genus names names are always shortened to one or two syllables, unless it's something easy, like gorilla.  But we usually talk about hippos and rhinos in everyday conversation, rather than hippopotamus or rhinoceros.

In the case of dinosaurs, we already have T-Rex, or Rex, for Tyrannosaurus rex. I've heard a number of people refer to Triceratops as a trike. And of course Stegosaurus is referred to as Stego, steggy, or spike tail. Then of course there is Brontosaurus or long-neck, which is used to describe any sauropod dinosaur by the general public. So not all cases will simply be the genus name.

The whole purpose for common names for Dinos and other Paleo critters would be for communication.  Amongst people passionate enough about the subject to know the many names, then we can always refer to an animal by its name. Most enthusiasts on this forum would know what acrocanthosaurus or alamosaurus are.  Most of the general public does not. But if you describe alamosaurus as a long-neck dinosaur from Texas, they'd have a better mental picture of what it is. Given enough repetition using this description, the common name may end up being something like Great Texas Longneck.

[Papi-Anon]

On a documentary about Gigantopithecus, the main scientist that was interviewed refers to the genus as simply 'Giganto', and I've heard some refer to C. Megalodon as simply 'Big Tooth'.

"Hell-Pigs", "Pigs on Stilts", and "Terminator-Pigs" have really been facetious terms for the entelodonts, but I personally like the term Hell-Pig for referring to them.

I think literal translations of the names of groups of organisms work in certain situations, like "Thunder Beasts" for brontotheres, or "False Crocs" for Pseudosuchids.

This reminds me, wasn't 'kangaroo' the Aboriginal word for 'I don't know'? I thought I read that when Cook came to Australia and saw the said creature and asked a native what it was, that was the answer.

On that note, the mythos of the sci-fi/fantasy story I'm working on has an ancient tribe of humans referring to an Andrewsarchus (in the mesonychid depiction) that haunts their settlement's neighboring forest as "Terrible Wolf" simply because the beast (which is actually an immortal being) superficially resembles a wolf more so than anything else.

[Appalachiosaurus]

I always liked the Cadillac and Dinosaurs approach:

Cutter - Allosaurus
Shivat - Tyrannosaurus
Mack - Triceratops
Sandbuck - Diplodocus
Wahonchuck -Stegosaurus
Whiptail - Nothosaurus
Thresher - Mosasaurus
Zeek - Pteranodon
Hornbill - Parasaurolophus

[BlueKrono]

I could comment on this from the perspective of someone who plays RP games. A book based on the D20 system titled "Lost Prehistorica & Lost Creatures" has a Table of Alternate Names for Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Beasts that this thread instantly brought to mind. Another (truly bizarre) series called "Dinosaur Planet: Broncosaurus Rex" has alternate names for every dinosaur species, including real ones in the "Cretasus Adventure Guide" and the dino compendium of some real and some made up dinos titled "Dinosaurs That Never Were". A lot of pre-existing material in those.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

There's a few ubiquitous common names for dinos, like T-rex and duck-bill, but in general, dinosaur names roll off the tongue so well that most people enjoy learning them, so I think they do fine as is. However, I don't think the same can be said about prehistoric mammals. Most of them have clunkier scientific names, and I think they could really benefit from common names. Smilodon, Mammuthus primigenius, Megatherium, Coelodonta, Ursus spelaeus, Megaloceros, and entelodonts are all some of the most popular prehistoric mammals, and I think it ties directly into the fact that they all have instantly recognizable common names (Sabertooth cat/tiger, mammoth, giant sloth, wooly rhino, cave bear, Irish Elk, hell pig)

With this in mind, I think popularizing a few common names for some less popular animals might increase their visibility a bit. What do you guys think of some of these?
I've taken to calling Uintatherium "the Yuntabeest". I think it has a nice ring to it.
Sloth horse - calicotheres
Thunder rhino - indricotheres
Gorangutan - Gigantopithecus (we could call it a yeti, but I think that sets the listener up with an inaccurate picture of what it actually looked like)
Shovel tusker - Platybelodon/Amebelodon (Kirk Johnson and Ray Troll simply called them "tuskers" in "Cruising the Fossil Freeway" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDReRPHON8I&list=PLyS6dcBr8qDUdbv_vNtMil6zMsVna3_19&index=4)

[CityRaptor]

I thought of naming Gigantopithecus Kong.  Also Unicorn for Elasmotherium.

Spinosaurus - Sailfisher, Crocoduck
Various Dromaeaosaurs and Toodontids - Sickleclaws, Slashers
Therizonsaurus - Bladers
Ankylosaurs - Tanks, Ankys

[Mamasaurus]

That song is hilarious! I've had my eye on that book for a while.

Shovel tusker is an awesome name for platybelodon or amebelodon. People even call large bull elephants tuskers, so it's fitting.

As for dromeaosaurids, people already call them raptors, and we'd just differentiate between avian and non-avian raptors. Either that or sickle-claw, because slasher assumes the stereotypical slash attack.  Which may have not been how they used the claw.

[Papi-Anon]

Basilosaurus- Slenderwhale

Ambulocetus- Landwhale

Megalodon- Grand White Shark, or simply Jaws (though Megalodon may not be closely related to modern great whites)

Andrewsarchus- Pigwhale

Gigantopithecus- Asian Kong

Embolotherium- Clubface or Paddleface

Arsinoitherium- False Rhino

Uintatheres- Saber-tooth Rhino

Moertherium- Pig-Elephant

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

Arsinoitherium- False Rhino

Uintatheres- Saber-tooth Rhino

Moertherium- Pig-Elephant

Ooh, I like those ones! Especially the "False Rhino". I would switch Moertherium to Elephant-Pig (it sounds more natural due to creatures like the Elephant Seal and Elephant Fish).

[Papi-Anon]

A few more:

Anomalocaris - Killer Shrimp

Opabinia - Elephant Shrimp

Dunkleosteus - Terror Fish

Inostrancevia - Bear-Lizard



I remember the old cartoon Valley of the Dinosaurs had the cave-family refer to Dimetrodon as 'Fin-Back'.

[Flaffy]

Dunkleosteus- Bear trap fish
More fitting

[CAWCarcharo]

Apatosaurus ajax= Ajax's Deceptive Lizard
Apatosaurus louisae= Utahn Deceptive Lizard
Triceratops horridus= Short Nose horned Triker
Triceratops prorsus= Long Nose horned Triker
Elosuchus cherifiensis= Moroccan Swamp Gharial
Palaeoloxodon naumanni= Naumann's Elephant
Anchiornis huxleyi= Huxley Bird
Allosaurus fragilis= Common Allos
Allosaurus jimmadseni= Jimmadsen's Allos
Allosaurus europaeus= European Allos
Dorudon serratus= American Spear Tooth Whale
Dorudon atrox= Egyptian Spear Tooth Whale
Daspletosaurus torosus= Brawn Tyrannus
Lythronax argestes= Gore King Tyrannus