A PALEONTOLOGIST has unveiled a 110-million-year-old African dinosaur with a weird anatomy, including a mouth that powered through greenery like a vacuum. The Dinosaur has been Dubbed Nigersaurus Taqueti based on the region it was discovered in.
The fossilized sauropod dinosaur was found in Niger, Africa. I know I have ranted about Political correctness and how it is pathetic, this example just shows it yet again. It is an acceptable practice to name a Dinosaur using the Region or Country in the name and this name is suitable. As far as my knowledge of the English Language goes, this version is pronounced ‘nahy-jer’ as in the River Niger. So this Dino’s name would be pronounced ‘Nahy-jer’-saurus, I don’t see the problem with that, do you?
Of course there are dips out there making a big deal out of the name because they have nothing better to do, so I thought I would put up a Poll.
Below is the main content of the article just so you can read about the cool Dino:
Stretching more than 13m, the Nigersaurus was a younger, smaller cousin of the North American Diplodocus. Paul Sereno said at the National Geographic headquarters that it was able to sustain an elephant-sized body with what one could call an ultra-light head. It would have been hard-pressed to lift its head above its back, and grazed on plants near the ground more like a type of cow rather than a reptilian giraffe. Its vacuum-like mouth was studded with no fewer than 500 teeth, including sets of natural “replacement” teeth, to help it keep ploughing through its diet of horsetails and ferns.
“Among dinosaurs, the Nigersaurus sets the Guinness record for tooth replacement,” Mr Sereno joked. And its backbone was made of more air then bone, the scientists said. “The vertebrae are so paper-thin that it is difficult to imagine them coping with the stresses of everyday use, but we know that they did,” said Jeffrey Wilson, of the University of Michigan.
| Article Tags :: guinness record | niger africa | paleontologist | paul sereno | political correctness | rant | reptilian | sauropod dinosaur | |
These people need to grow up. I remember when I was little, I didn’t know how to pronounce Niger, so you can probably guess what my guess was. It was wrong for me to giggle about it (I pronounced Nigeria in a similar way), but I’ve far outgrown that phase in my life. If these people think that the naming of the Nigersaurus was racist or not politically correct, then I’m surprised they haven’t lobbied to change the name of the countries of Niger and Nigeria too.
Very good point. There are probably a lot of different words that would need to be changed if we thought about it.
[...] has been discovered deep inside of Africa and its name has sparked a fair bit of controversy. Dubbed Nigersaurus, the long-necked dinosaur is a “younger, smaller cousin of the North American [...]