Writer's Guide

Jeff Poling

PLURALS

A question frequently asked of paleontologists is how to form the plural of a species. If an author is writing about a pack of 15 Tyrannosaurus rex individuals, for example, he wants to know whether to refer to them as tyrannosauri, tyrannosauruses, or some other form of plural. The correct answer is "none of the above," as when referring to taxa there are no plurals.

Taxa are singular entities. There is only one Amniota, one Reptilia, one Dinosauria, and so on. This extends to the species level: there is only one Tyrannosaurus rex, for example. Each individual of the species Tyrannosaurus rex is a specimen of the taxon; the individual is not, strictly speaking, the taxon itself.

When referring to several individuals that belong to a specific taxon, the writer must refer to the taxon in the singular and the individuals in the plural. A correct way for the writer, in the example above, to refer to his pack of 15 Tyrannosaurus rex individuals might be "... a pack of 15 specimens of Tyrannosaurus rex..." or "... the pack, comprised of 15 Tyrannosaurus rex individuals..."

It is perfectly acceptable, however, to form plurals of vernacular names. A writer might use the vernacular reptile, dinosaur or tyrannosaur to refer to a single specimen of Reptilia, Dinosauria or Tyrannosaurus. The writer may use the vernacular plurals reptiles, dinosaurs or tyrannosaurs to refer to more than one individual of Reptilia, Dinosauria or Tyrannosaurus.

VERNACULAR NAMES

Writers often use vernacular names when referring to taxa. An author might, for example, refer to Gastonia burgei as an ankylosaurid. Generally, authors use whatever sounds best and it usually comes out correct. However, there are rules governing the formation of a vernacular name, and to which animals it should be applied.

Vernacular names are usually formed by dropping or modifying the ending of a group name. For example,

• taxon ends with -ia, vernacular ends with -ian
• taxon ends with -idae, vernacular ends with -id
• taxon ends with -inae, vernacular ends with -ine
• taxon ends with -us, vernacular drops the -us

and so on. Special note should be taken of names that have special grammatical rules applied in their root languages. Troodon, for example, is a troodontid troodont, the "t" added due to the Greek declension of -odon. Differences in forming a vernacular name can also occur due to usage and context, such as an animal belonging to the Reptilia being a "reptile" or looking "reptilian."

Whether a vernacular name is proper for a given species depends upon whether that species belongs to the group from which the vernacular name is formed. If the species is not in that group then the vernacular name cannot be used to refer to it. For example, Gastonia burgei is not an ankylosaur. The vernacular ankylosaur is formed from the genus Ankylosaurus, of which Gastonia burgei is not a member. Ankylosaurus magniventris is an ankylosauroid, ankylosaurid, ankylosaurine ankylosaur, while Gastonia burgei is an ankylosauroid, ankylosaurid, polcanthine gastonian.

1. Holtz, Thomas R. (subject still to be found). Public e-mail to the Dinosaur Mailing List, (date still to be found).
2. Olshevsky, George. Re: Nomenclature. Public e-mail to the Dinosaur Mailing List, 17 Oct 1998.
3. Olshevsky, George. Re: Nomenclature- It is to laugh. Public e-mail to the Dinosaur Mailing List, 18 Oct 1998.