The Basal Sauropodomorph – Sarahsaurus

The other day, we were asked by a young dinosaur fan, that if she found a dinosaur could she name it “Sarahsaurus” after herself.  An interesting question, whereas there are certain rules that have to be followed when considering scientific nomenclature, technically there is nothing to stop a person describing an organism that is new to science in a way that commemorates them in some way.

However, in the case of this young girl and her ambition of being able to name a dinosaur after herself, the name Sarahsaurus has already been taken.  In the autumn of 2010, there was a paper published that described a basal sauropodomorph from North America, this animal had already been assigned the genus name Sarahsaurus (Sarahsaurus aurifontanalis).

Known from a single specimen, excavated from Lower Jurassic strata in Arizona (Kayenta Formation), this dinosaur is believed to an ancestor of the Diplodocids and Macronaria that thrived in the Late Jurassic.  Measuring approximately 4 metres in length, Sarahsaurus was much smaller than later sauropods and the fossil represents one of the most ancient (190 million years old) and most primitive long-necked dinosaur fossils discovered to date in North America.

An Illustration of Sarahsaurus

Sarahsaurus illustrated.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

The diagram shows a man next to the Sarahsaurus sketch to give scale.  Sarahsaurus had strong hands with claws and powerful forearms.  Scientists have suggested that this dinosaur, although preferring a quadrupedal stance, could rear onto its hind legs if required.  Perhaps the hands and claws were used to break open termite nests.  By the early Jurassic, termites living in large, social colonies were becoming widespread and Sarahsaurus may have been an omnivore, supplementing its diet of plants with termites and other small animals.

Sarahsaurus was named to honour a patron and supporter of the university that led the excavation (Sarah Butler).  So for our young dinosaur fan, she will have to think up another name to use, should she be lucky enough to discover an organism that proves to be new to science.

For models and figures of Sauropodomorpha dinosaurs: Everything Dinosaur Models and Figures.

The Pitfalls of Dinosaur Pronunciation

Everything Dinosaur team members provide a guide to Chasmosaurus pronunciation and highlight a Chasmosaurus dinosaur model.

With a new dinosaur species being announced on average once every twenty days or so, it can be hard keeping up with all the developments in the dinosaur family tree.  One of the biggest problems we have when reading a scientific paper is the fact that in almost every paper or journal we have ever encountered, there isn’t a handy pronunciation guide provided.

This can cause problems when determining how a dinosaur, or indeed any other extinct organism name should be said.  We are not alone with this problem, a number of extinct animals are pronounced in slightly different ways by palaeontologists, remember the great debate about how to exactly say the genus Diplodocus for example.

One of the dinosaurs most commonly tripped over by young dinosaur fans when it comes to its name being said out loud is the dinosaur genus known as Chasmosaurus.  The name is not as tongue-twistingly difficult as some members of the Dinosauria, for example Micropachycephalosaurus (mike-row-pack-ee-sep-hal-low-sore-us), things become worse when you have to pronounce the formal binomial classification, i.e. the genus and the species name together, in this instance Micropachycephalosaurus hongtuyanensis.

Chasmosaurus belli

Chasmosaurus, for example Chasmosaurus belli, is known from extensive fossil material found in western North America from as far north as Alberta; to the deep south of the United States (Texas).  This five metre long, Late Cretaceous horned dinosaur, (Ceratopsian) is one of the most studied of all Campanian (Campanian faunal stage) ornithischian dinosaurs.  However, the name still catches out the unwary.

An Illustration of Chasmosaurus

“Chasm Lizard”. Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

To view a model of Chasmosaurus and other horned dinosaur figures: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Prehistoric Life Models.

Despite this dinosaur being known about for almost 140 years, its name can still catch you out if you are not careful.  This dinosaur’s name means “Chasm Lizard”, from the Latin chasma which itself is derived from the Greek khasma which means “gaping hollow”.  This is why sometimes the meaning for this dinosaur’s name is stated as “Ravine Lizard”.  Anyway, the trick to saying this name correctly is to remember the original Greek root – Chasmosaurus is not stated as “Chas-mow-sore-us” as in “Chas and Dave” for example.  It is pronounced “Kaz-mow-sore-us”.

Following an extensive revision of the fossil material in the mid 1990s, the number of species assigned to the Chasmosaurus genus has been greatly reduced, but undoubtedly new species will come to light and there is a good chance that the unwary reader of a news article or report on a discovery will make the mistake that has haunted this dinosaur for all of its near 140 years of being known to science – the name will be pronounced incorrectly.

A Chasmosaurus Dinosaur Model

“Chasm Lizard” in the spotlight.

The Chasmosaurus dinosaur model is one of the horned dinosaurs available in the CollectA not-to-scale model range.

To view this range: CollectA Age of Dinosaurs Popular Range.