Jump to content

Who Said Paleontologists Aren't Funny?


piranha

Recommended Posts

Every day I read at least one trilobite paper and encountered this gem which is too hilarious and had to share with TFF. Actually it went right over my head at first then after double-checking all of the band members last names quickly realized the authors obvious tribute to the infamous 1970's punk rockers from the UK. Ironically a group of us at UO were recently discussing some of the most bizarre species names. This one could certainly make any top-ten list. Those not familiar or old enough will have to google the names as the forum filter would probably not approve of the band's tasteless moniker... :o:P

post-4301-0-45603100-1334975058_thumb.jpg

RE: Silurian (Wenlock) Calymenid Trilobites from the Cape Phillips Fm, Central Canadian Arctic

Journal of Paleontology, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Jul., 1997), pp. 657-682

Authors: Jonathan M. Adrain and Gregory D. Edgecombe

  • I found this Informative 1

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:rofl:

"Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence"_ Carl Sagen

No trees were killed in this posting......however, many innocent electrons were diverted from where they originally intended to go.

" I think, therefore I collect fossils." _ Me

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."__S. Holmes

"can't we all just get along?" Jack Nicholson from Mars Attacks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

too funny! I have been to CBGBs and other clubs many times in my youth but only remembered several of these names...

"Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a HOOT! laughing%20on%20the%20floor%2024.gif Good ol' Johnny Rotten, Sid Vicious and the rest! Saw them once at the Hot Club here in Dallas. That's ALMOST as good as Bakker and Sullivan's Dracorex hogwartsia and Van Valen's little hyaenodont that he named Arfia (dog-like...Arf! Arf! Get it?).

-Joe

  • I found this Informative 1

Illigitimati non carborundum

Fruitbat's PDF Library

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd never imagine so ... sly trilos!!! :rofl:

Thanks for sharing, Scott :D :D :D

Astrinos P. Damianakis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the smile, Scott! :D

Regards,

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

   MOTM.png.61350469b02f439fd4d5d77c2c69da85.png      PaleoPartner.png.30c01982e09b0cc0b7d9d6a7a21f56c6.png.a600039856933851eeea617ca3f2d15f.png     Postmaster1.jpg.900efa599049929531fa81981f028e24.jpg    VFOTM.png.f1b09c78bf88298b009b0da14ef44cf0.png  VFOTM  --- APRIL - 2015  

__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's right up there with the Myrmekiaphila neilyoungi spider and the Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae fly. Who can collect the whole band? You'd have to go through plenty of punk rocks (couldn't resist)

  • I found this Informative 1

There's no limit to what you can accomplish when you're supposed to be doing something else

Link to comment
Share on other sites

shouldnt one of those have a mohawk? :D

A. rotteni does have a mohawk. :)

Context is critical.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great post Scott!

I had the pleasure of working in the same lab as Greg and Jonathan back in the early 1990's and had a blast! It was not uncommon to hear some gender pistols playing in the lab (dungeon)!

Do you have a copy of this as a PDF? I'm trying to collect as many papers on Canadian Arctic trilobites as possible and these two guys are on the top of my list of desired authors!

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that Pandora's Box has been opened, here are a few more trilobites named after famous musicians. The lone exception on the list is the nod to Marilyn Monroe, and suggested by one source as dedicated for the curvy hourglass-shaped glabella of N. monroeae. Dan, sending you all of the different papers on Canadian Arctic trilobites that I can find. There are at least a dozen but let me track them all down and will have those on the way shortly...

emo66.gifemo64.gif

Aegrotocatellus jaggeri - Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (Mick Jagger)

Avalanchurus lennoni, A. starri - Edgecombe & Chatterton, 1993 (John Lennon & Ringo Starr)

Avalanchurus simoni and A. garfunkeli - Adrain & Edgecombe, 1997 (Paul Simon & Art Garfunkel)

Mackenziurus johnnyi, M. joeyi, M. deedeei, M. ceejayi - Adrian & Edgecombe, 1997 (The Ramones)

Milesdavis eldredgei - Lieberman, 1994 (Miles Davis)

Norasaphus monroeae - Fortey & Shergold, 1984 (Marilyn Monroe)

Struszia mccartneyi - Edgecombe & Chatterton, 1993 (Paul McCartney)

Perirehaedulus richardsi - Adrain & Edgecombe, 1995 (Keith Richards)

  • I found this Informative 2

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks kindly Scott!

I really appreciate that!!!!! :jig:

Who said trilobite taxonomy wasn't fun?! :D

I believe many pitchers of beer were involved in these taxonomic forays! :lol:

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had the pleasure of working in the same lab as Greg and Jonathan back in the early 1990's and had a blast! It was not uncommon to hear some gender pistols playing in the lab (dungeon)!

Is this Greg Graffin that you're talking about? If so, then I'm not surprised about the music playing :D

As a punk rock fan I find this thread mildly amusing, and despite being young I didn't need to google any of those names in the first post...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funneee, from the same era Siouxsie and the Banshees to add a female line Siouxsi sounds good.

Be happy while you're living for you're a long time dead.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this Greg Graffin that you're talking about? If so, then I'm not surprised about the music playing :D

As a punk rock fan I find this thread mildly amusing, and despite being young I didn't need to google any of those names in the first post...

No Tyrannoraptor,

I'm actually referring to Greg Edgecombe the author (or co-author) of many of the above names! I was an undergrad at the University of Alberta where I had the pleasure of working in the acid prep lab which was next door to Greg's office! He and Jonathan Adrain were quite the characters back in the early 1990's!

Dan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey piranha... good catch.

Opening Pandora's box a bit more... there is also some Malagasy dinosaur named after Mark Knoffler of Dire Straits. Somethingorother knoppfleri.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No Tyrannoraptor,

I'm actually referring to Greg Edgecombe the author (or co-author) of many of the above names! I was an undergrad at the University of Alberta where I had the pleasure of working in the acid prep lab which was next door to Greg's office! He and Jonathan Adrain were quite the characters back in the early 1990's!

Dan

Ah, that explains the Pistols music then :D

I thought you were referring to Greg Graffin, the lead singer of punk rock band Bad Religion (they are legends, too, being on the scene for over 30 years now), majored in Geology and Antrophology and apparently also has a Zoology PhD. He also lectures (or lectured) Palaeontology. I think you can probably see why I thought you were talking about him :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This thread was initially about rock stars and trilobites, but in the end (or beginning) they were all rock stars :P

Here is another batch including fictional characters, famous celebrities and even an iconic little toy... so enjoy:

Aesopichthys erinaceus - Poplin & Lund, 2000 (fossil actinopterygian fish) Aesop's Fables

Arthurdactylus conandoylensis - Frey & Martill, 1994 (Brazilian pterosaur) Arthur Conan Doyle

Diplocriterion yoyo - Goldring, 1964 (trace fossil) Named because it goes up and down (status invalid?)

Fedexia striegeli - Berman, Henrici, Brezinski & Kollar, 2010 (fossil amphibian) Stranger than fiction!

Han solo - Turvey 2005 (agnostid trilobite) May the Force be with you... self explanatory :ninja:

Harryhausenia galantensis - Boyko, 2004 (fossil crab) Ray Harryhausen - sci-fi movie animator

Kalloprion kilmisteri - Eriksson, 2006 (fossil polychaete) Lemmy Kilmister - Motörhead

Materpiscis attenboroughi - Long, Trinajstic, Young & Senden, 2008 (Devonian fish) Sir David Attenborough

Mesoparapylocheles michaeljacksoni - Klompmaker et. al. 2012 (fossil hermit crab) Michael Jackson

Montypythonoides riversleighensis - Smith & Plane, 1985 (fossil snake) Monty Python's Flying Circus

Sinemys gamera - Brinkman & Peng, 1993 (Japanese fossil turtle) Godzilla's BFF

Couple of twofers:

Thaleops mobydicki - Amati & Westrop, 2004 (trilobite) Moby Dick

Livyatan melvillei - Lambert et al., 2010 (fossil sperm whale) Herman Melville

Amaurotoma zappa - Plas, 1972 (fossil gastropod) Frank Zappa

Oenonites zappae - Eriksson 1997 (fossil polychaete) Moon Unit Zappa

  • I found this Informative 1

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...

While researching a trilobite in another thread I stumbled on a paper with these trilobites named after canine celebrities:

Bowmania lassieae

Cherrycreekia benjii

Euptychaspis dougali

Eurekia rintintini

Glaberaspis scoobydooi

Prosaukia oldyelleri

Sunwaptia plutoi

It must be true.... every dog has its day dog.gifdog-75.gif

A late Cambrian (Sunwaptan) silicified trilobite fauna from Nevada

Bulletins of American Paleontology. 365:1-56

J.M. Adrain & S.R. Westrop (2004)

  • I found this Informative 1

image.png.a84de26dad44fb03836a743755df237c.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...