Dinosaur name gets Potter magic
By Jack Malvern
May 25, 2006
A NEW species of dinosaur has been named in honour of J.K. Rowling and her Harry Potter books.
The 66 million-year-old dragon-like monster has been given the title Dracorex hogwartsia because it resembles the kind of fantastical creature encountered by the teenage wizard. The nearly complete skull of the previously unknown dinosaur was found by three friends during a fossil-collecting trip in South Dakota in the US.
The dinosaur's name comes from the Latin words for dragon and king and Rowlands's fictional Hogwarts School.
The author said the honour had brought her new credibility with her children, who are passionate about dinosaurs. "The naming of Dracorex hogwartsia is easily the most unexpected honour to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books," she said yesterday.
"I am absolutely thrilled to think that Hogwarts has made a small mark upon the fascinating world of dinosaurs."
Paleontologist Robert Bakker said the beast, now on display at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, would not look out of place in a Potter book: "(It) carried an armour-plated head of almost magical configuration, covered with knobs and spikes, horns and crests. I was staring at the skull last summer and the name just popped into my head, hogwartsia."
I'll try and find a picture of the dinosaur in question (though I doubt they've made any interpretations of what they think it would have looked like yet).
"I'm for it so we can put Nuclear power plants up there, and then beam the power back to earth on a laser beam." ~ Whidden
gaboman said this in post #5 : I'll try and find a picture of the dinosaur in question (though I doubt they've made any interpretations of what they think it would have looked like yet).
I ran into this today while making my new favorite dinosaur poll, here is a pic. Ugly beast!
I will add it to my poll here in a few, but I think most people will think it's a joke.
It's no joke. I've read the paper that Bakker wrote describing and naming it. I was a bit skeptical that it's actually a new species, though. It sounded a lot like another dino- Stygimoloch. I thought it might have been a baby or a new species in that genus. I'd like to see a comparison of the two side-by-side.
I do have to wonder about Bakker's actual motives behind the name, though. He's done a lot for paleontology, but of recent, he's fallen out of the limelight. Naming it an HP name might have been some sort of publicity thing for him.
"You're disturbing...yet intriguing. Like couscous. I'm gonna call you Couscous from now on."
06-02-2006 10:53 AM
