Unicerosaurus

"Unicerosaurus" is a nomen nudum coined by creationist Carl Baugh.[1] It has never been formally described. Baugh had claimed that "Unicerosaurus" was a dinosaur, but this was rejected by Canadian geologist John R. Armstrong in a 1987 article, which identified the fossil as the neural spine of a fish.[1][2][3] Its name derives from a mixture of Latin and Greek, Uni- "one", κερας/cera- "horn" and σαυρος/saurus "lizard". Although "Unicerosaurus" has appeared in various lists of dinosaurs, it is not considered a valid genus by mainstream paleontologists.[4][5]

History

In 1982, a former Baptist minister, Carl Baugh, began excavations on the limestone beds of the Paluxy River, near Glen Rose, Texas, famous for its dinosaur tracks. Some of the tracks resembled human footprints and had been proclaimed since 1900 as evidence that dinosaurs and modern humans had once lived alongside one another. Scientists' investigations found the supposed human footprints to be "forms of elongate dinosaur tracks, while others were selectively highlighted erosional markings, and still others (on loose blocks) probable carvings."[6]

Baugh asserted that the tracks were direct evidence of Young Earth Creationism. He made appearances at Paluxy churches and schools and in 1984 established the Creation Evidence Museum. Exhibits featured a selection of fossil footprints from Paluxy, footprints in stone alleged to be from Paluxy but whose source was undocumented, and various vertebrate and invertebrate fossils found at the northern edge of Somervell County, Texas. Some fossils in the collection were said to represent dinosaur genera, including a mislabled pubis and ischium assigned to Acrocanthosaurus and a solitary "Y-shaped" fossil assigned the name "Unicerosaurus".[3]

The only research article ever published on "Unicerosaurus" was by geologist John Armstrong, an ordained deacon, in the September 1987 Creation/Evolution Newsletter, a publication of the National Center for Science Education. Armstrong described the fossil as a "Y-shaped petrified bone that appears to be the neural spine from a hugh [sic] fish like the Portheus of Niobrara Chalk" that Baugh's museum "declared to be the forehead horn of a newly discovered dinosaur genus".[3] The museum's exhibit told visitors that the "horn" belonged to "the unicorn of Job 38, one of three dinosaurs mentioned in Scripture; the others being behemoth and leviathan of Job 40 and 41", and that the horn was able to fold back like the blade of a jack knife.[3]

Baugh and other creationists interpret the biblical Behemoth as a sauropod dinosaur like Brontosaurus and Leviathan as possibly a plesiosaur of the kind commonly associated with the Loch Ness Monster.[7] Though some Young Earth Creationists share Baugh's interpretations of the biblical Behemoth and Leviathan, they have been reluctant to embrace the "Unicerosaurus." Baugh's claims about the fossil have not been taken seriously either by Christian organizations nor the scientific community. Both the fossil and the name "Unicerosaurus" remain footnotes; the name has not appeared in print since its original publication except where it appears in lists of invalid or disputed dinosaur genera.[4][5]

Status as a nomen nudum

"Unicerosaurus" is a nomen nudum, a name that has appeared in print but which has not yet been formally published by the standards of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the organization responsible for "governing the application of scientific names to all organisms which are treated as animals." Article 13.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states that proposed names for new genera between 1930 and 1999 must have been "marked by gen. nov., sp. nov. or an equivalent expression", showing intent to erect a scientific name.[8] This would prevent typographical errors and other mistakes to be regarded as nomina nuda. The 1987 article describes the find as a purported "new genus of dinosaur", so the name likely qualifies as a nomen nudum, which, by convention, appears in quotation marks.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Olshevsky, George (2000). Mesozoic Meanderings: An Annotated Checklist of Dinosaur Species by Continent. San Diego: Publications Requiring Research.
  2. ↑ Poling, Jeff (2004). DML Dinosaur Genera List. Retrieved January 6, 2007.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Armstrong, John R. (1987). Creation/Evolution Newsletter 7 5:21; Geolog. 16, Part 4.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lessem, D., and Glut, D.F. (1993). "Not A Dinosaur". The Dinosaur Society Dinosaur Encyclopedia. Random House, Inc. xxxvi–xxxviii. ISBN 0-679-41770-2.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Glut, D.F. (1997). "Excluded Genera". Dinosaurs: The Encyclopedia. McFarland & Company. pp. 1005–1010. ISBN 0-89950-917-7.
  6. ↑ Kuban, G (1995). "On the Heels of Dinosaurs". TalkOrigins Archive. Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  7. ↑ Bassett, D.V. (2007). "Sea Monsters and Flying Serpents - Still Alive Since Day 5". Creation Evidence Museum. Archived from the original on 2007-04-04. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  8. ↑ Ride, W.D.L. (1999). "International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, Fourth edition". International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. ISBN 0-85301-006-4. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

External links