Megapnosaurus (was: Hebejeebie)

[Ken Kinman]

Hi Doug,
      I was still very active on the DML (Dinosaur Mailing List) when the
uproar over Megapnosaurus erupted early last year. I even tried to tone down
the initial outrage until we knew all the facts (especially whether Raath
had been notified or not).
      Once the facts were known, I wasn't quite as outraged as many
dinosaurologists were, but still thought the name Megapnosaurus was highly
inappropriate.  Whether enough effort had been made to determine if Mike
Raath was still living is disputable.  That Raath was very unhappy with the
situation is quite clear.  He has spent much of his life studying this
dinosaur.
      In ANY case, I do not think substitute names are an appropriate target
for such mirth, and furthermore the publication of a dinosaur replacement
name in an insect journal just ended up rubbing salt into a wound.  I might
even be inclined to support the suppression of Megapnosaurus if Raath
chooses to fight it through the ICZN (and rumor has it that he may well do
just that).
      When I discovered that the pterosaur name Sternbergia was preoccupied
(way back in my college days), I immediately informed the author and a very
appropriate replacement name (Geosternbergia) was proposed.  Likewise a
*slight* modification of the name Syntarsus would have been appropriate in
this case, to maintain some semblance of continuity and relative stability.
     I certainly hope this will dissuade any proposals of replacement names
(joke names in particular) in the future without: (1) a more careful search
for the original author, (2) more consultation with members of that
particular field, (3) publication of the replacement name in a journal
within that field, and (4) attempts to avoid a dramatic change in the name
itself.  With these four strikes against it, I am not really surprised that
the name Megapnosaurus evoked such a negative reaction.  It's one thing to
propose a joke name yourself (like Necrosuchus by Simpson); it's quite a
different matter when it is forced upon you (especially when the subject
represents a considerable proportion of your life's work).  It was a very
unfortunate turn of events, and in the end it is probably best that the ICZN
officially settle the matter.
          ------- Ken
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Doug Yanega wrote:
This is reminiscent of one fairly recent example of *poor* humor on the part
of the palaeontologists; when an entomologist, Mike Ivie, discovered that
the dinosaur genus Syntarsus was a junior synonym (by 100 years) of a
well-known beetle genus, and was unable to contact the original author
(actually, he was informed *incorrectly* that said author was dead), the
replacement name given was "Megapnosaurus".  The name ("big dead lizard")
has evidently offended a great many palaeontologists, despite the fact that
- as a group - palaeontologists are among the worst offenders, as far as
bequeathing names for less-than-objective reasons.  One can only suspect
that these same offended individuals don't care much for many of their
colleagues' efforts, Cuttysarkus included.  ;-)
Peace,
--
Doug Yanega
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