Where do dinosaurs get their names?.

Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Gigantosaurus and others… Do you want to know where dinosaurs get their names?

It wouldn’t be wrong to say that they got their names from their parents, just like us. That is, from the archaeologists, paleontologists or scientists who discovered them. Let’s see where dinosaurs get their names..

A new word was needed to describe the extinct reptile fossils that were being discovered in the mid-19th century. That’s why Sir Richard Owen first used the word “dinosaur” in 1841. The word dinosaur is derived from the Greek words “deinos” meaning terrible and “sauros” meaning lizard.

Of course, today we know that dinosaurs were not lizards, but the description “terrible lizard” seems to be the most appropriate words to describe these fossils.

How are dinosaur species named?

There are no rules for dinosaur naming. For example, the dinosaur named Chassternbergia was named after its discoverer, Charles Sternberg .

Sometimes new dinosaur fossils found are named after the person who sponsored the excavation. For example, our dinosaur named Diplodocus Carnegii was named after Andrew Carnegie , who funded the excavation . Leaellynasaura was named after Leaelly Ven , the daughter of the paleontologists who discovered it, Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers.

There are also dinosaur fossils named after the place where they were discovered. Such as Albertosaurus found in Alberta, Canada,

Utahraptor found in Utah, and Denversaurus found in Denver. Likewise, Muttaburrasaurus was discovered at Muttaburra near Australia, and Huayangosaurus was discovered in Huayang, China.

It is also common to see Greek or Latin root words used to give a newly discovered dinosaur a name that describes them. Triceratops

, meaning “three-horned head”, or   Giganotosaurus, meaning “giant lizard” , can be considered examples of this. Once a new name is chosen, it is reviewed by a committee of scientists and finally, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature officially registers the name.

So, suppose you were a Paleontologist, if you discovered a fossil, what name would you give it?