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

536 viewsBiologyOther

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

15 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

We don’t have common names for dinosaurs because there were never any humans who coexisted with them and needed a simple word to shout when one was right behind you. We just refer to them using their scientific names, which include “saurus” because of their resemblance to lizards. Lots of modern lizards also have “saurus” in their scientific names (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrhosaurus)

You are viewing 1 out of 15 answers, click here to view all answers.