Dinosaur common names?

[Mamasaurus]

Hello there, we all know how complicated the scientific names of dinosaurs and other prehistoric fauna can be, but I am curious to know what common names people would likely give them if we were to refer to them on a regular basis.  For example, no lay person is going to call a fox Vulpes vulpes, and most people would not talk about ravens in everyday language as corvids.  Those are even simpler latin names than pretty much 95% of the names given to prehistoric fauna, and there is still an even easier common name given!  People normally say, "I like foxes", or "I have a pet raven", or "I have a cat", not "I have a feline." 

So keeping that in mind, what would be likely common names for various prehistoric animal groups?  Instead of dromeaosaurs or ornisthians, what would a more common and lay-person-friendly term be?  Naturally, I am thinking of an english term, because of course the reason for latin names is universality.  But it would still be pretty neat to have common, simple words for various dino groups, which would make them so much easier to say and more easily accessible to the general public. 

So for fun, curiosity, and partly to inspire a particular project I have in the works...If someone where to have a theoretical pet book on the "care and handling of ceratopsians", what would be a term that is more conducive to throwing it around in everyday language?  Like "taking care of your pet dog".  vs  "taking care of your pet canid"

[Tallin]

It makes me think of the group names they gave dinosaur families in the film 'The Land Before Time' - I loved that as a child.

Hadrosaurs became 'duck faces'
Sauropods - 'Long necks'
Ceratopsians - 'three horns' (though that would only work for a couple of them)
There were a few others too...but they're all a bit too generic!

[DinoToyForum]

I think it is a nice idea!

Many of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs have acquired common names, such as the Trike (=Triceratops), Raptor (=Velociraptor, but the word is already in use!), Compy (= Procompsognathus) and Spitter (=Dilophosaurus, although it probably didn't spit in reality). Most of these are derived from the scientific names though.

[suspsy]

Dougal Dixon did a really great job of this in his books The New Dinosaurs and After Man: A Zoology of the Future. Sadly, both are long out of print.

[amargasaurus cazaui]

Few ceratopsians have the same or for that matter any horns so three horn would be a fail, however they all seem to have had some type of frill, even the basal ones . Psittacosaurus itself demonstrates a small shelflike frilll itself if you count the area of the fenestrae at the back of the skull, and for the more derived ones a frill seems fairly universal...so perhaps frill beast, or frill pet?

[Arul]

Suchominus = rudy ?

[amargasaurus cazaui]

ceratopsians=frillbert?

[triceratops83]

In WWD3D, Patchi calls Chirostentoes "Long Neck Pecky Things".

[Dinoguy2]

In some cases common names are the same or similar to scientific names anyway. Rhinoceros, hippopotamus, etc. are all Greek/Latin names. They often just get shortened, to rhino and hippo, so one way of forming common names could be shortened names, like tyranno, tricero (or trike?), etc.

Even some of your examples are actually scientific names! Feline is the adjective form of the subfamily name Felinae. Same with canine and Caninae. So we could still use things like centrosaurine, tyrannosaurine, diplodocine, etc.

Also, in Chinese dinosaurs are regularly given common names that are sometimes the same as the scientific name. Mei long means sleeping dragon and is both the common and scientific name (this must seem strange, but it's just that we don't have many scientific names based on English like we do Chinese, other than Irritator). So the common name for Mei long is actually... "mei long".

[Sim]

In some cases common names are the same or similar to scientific names anyway. Rhinoceros, hippopotamus, etc. are all Greek/Latin names.

Alligator is another one.  And the scientific name for a boa constrictor is... Boa constrictor!

Also, in Chinese dinosaurs are regularly given common names that are sometimes the same as the scientific name. Mei long means sleeping dragon and is both the common and scientific name (this must seem strange, but it's just that we don't have many scientific names based on English like we do Chinese, other than Irritator). So the common name for Mei long is actually... "mei long".

That's interesting, I didn't know that!

[amargasaurus cazaui]

and by the same reasoning......Yin long...Yin=hidden long=dragon....so Yinlong is the hidden dragon, named for the area he was found in, which was used to film the movie of the same name !!

[Mamasaurus]

Some great thoughts here! I had a couple of thoughts on dromeaosaurs...a common characteristic on most, if not all, is that claw on the second toe right?  A pretty easy common name could probably sickle-claw.  Either that or raptor, since most people already call them raptors because of Jurassic Park.  😊

Few ceratopsians have the same or for that matter any horns so three horn would be a fail, however they all seem to have had some type of frill, even the basal ones . Psittacosaurus itself demonstrates a small shelflike frilll itself if you count the area of the fenestrae at the back of the skull, and for the more derived ones a frill seems fairly universal...so perhaps frill beast, or frill pet?

In some cases common names are the same or similar to scientific names anyway. Rhinoceros, hippopotamus, etc. are all Greek/Latin names. They often just get shortened, to rhino and hippo, so one way of forming common names could be shortened names, like tyranno, tricero (or trike?), etc.

That is true, so perhaps in the case of ceratopsians "ceratops" would be appropriate.  For more specific animals like triceratops, your suggestion of "trike" sounds plausible. 😊

Even some of your examples are actually scientific names! Feline is the adjective form of the subfamily name Felinae. Same with canine and Caninae. So we could still use things like centrosaurine, tyrannosaurine, diplodocine, etc.

Those examples were of what people don't normally say.  Though we do describe cats as felines, and dogs as canines, when you show someone a picture most people would say dog or cat.  That sort of simplicity and everyday usability is what I am referring to when I talk about the common names of prehistoric animals.  😊

Also, think about dinosaurs in the news.  Every time a large theropod is mentioned it is always, "bigger than T-rex", "smaller than T-rex", "cousin of T-rex", etc... Why? Because everyone knows and remembers "T-rex".  Brontosaurus rolls off the tongue easier than Apatosaurus, so I think part of the reason the average Joe is mistaken is simply because of memorability and ease of saying the name.  Triceratops is also relatively short and easy to remember for a dinosaur name, not to mention it's long and popular history.  😊 

[Appalachiosaurus]

Many already have common names!

Dromeosaurs = raptors

Pterosaurs = pterodactyls

Sauropods = long-necks/brontosaurs

Tyrannosaurus = T. rex

[Sim]

Many already have common names!

Dromeosaurs = raptors

Pterosaurs = pterodactyls

Sauropods = long-necks/brontosaurs

Tyrannosaurus = T. rex

I've never heard those 2 used as common names for sauropods.  "Brontosaur" is just wrong and I'd hate to see (or hear) it used.

[stargatedalek]

pterodactyl is already used as the informal for "short tailed pterosaurs"

[Yutyrannus]

Perhaps this?
Tyrannosaurid = Tyrant

ex: Nanuqsaurus hoglundi = Polar tyrant, Northern Tyrant, etc.

[Sim]

Perhaps this?
Tyrannosaurid = Tyrant

ex: Nanuqsaurus hoglundi = Polar tyrant, Northern Tyrant, etc.

That sounds kind of cool, although there are already some birds in the tyrannidae family which are called "tyrants" in their common names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrant_flycatcher like the many-coloured rush tyrant, sharp-tailed grass tyrant, spectacled tyrant, yellow-billed tit-tyrant and agile tit-tyrant.

[Takama]

How about Tyrannus then, for Tyrannosaurid Dinosaurs

[Sim]

How about Tyrannus then, for Tyrannosaurid Dinosaurs

Tyrannus is a genus of bird: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingbird although it doesn't seem to be used as a common name, probably because it sounds quite scientific rather than vernacular.

[Newt]

Martyniuk's Field Guide to Mesozoic Birds and Other Winged Dinosaurs gives each species a common name that is just a literal translation into English of the scientific name. It doesn't always work out so well; some of the names are excessively long and clunky, but it's at least a a starting place.

This is an issue with living organisms too. Outside a few very familiar groups, most organisms do not have common names (at least at the species level). Some researchers like to invent vernacular* names for these organisms, but others find this pointless or confusing.

*- There is a difference between common and vernacular names. Common names arise naturally within the lay community, while vernacular names are imposed by academics.