why do many dinosaur names have “saurus” at the end but no current animals we’ve named have this nomenclature?

Question

Monkey, salmon, pelican, turtle, cobra, poodle, alligator, eagle, iguana, geraffe, rhinoceros….all have unique names that don’t follow any major sort of naming system. I realize these are the general names and not the true scientific names, but why are so many dinosaurs all named with saurus at the end?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Others have already explained, but I want to add a little fact. There’s a non-dinosaur with a saurus at the end – the basilosaur, an extinct proto-whale. Cetacean skulls look a bit reptilian, so its discoverers in the 19th century thought it was one.