RE: paleonet Cimolichthys - meaning of 'cimol'?

["Mike Everhart" <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Alvaro,

Thanks for the useful information….

 

> Cimolia is new Latin  (from Greek kimolia), a white clay from the Aegean island of Cimolus of the archipelago of the Cyclades. In the Antiquity it was well known for the high quality of the dried fishes it produced.

 

It is certainly helpful to understand what Leidy and others were thinking about when they named their specimens…. They obviously had a better ‘classic’ education than we get today (or that I got J ).

 

> As Cimolichthys is a fossil fish from the English  Chalk may be there is a double meaning??

 

Quite possibly… Leidy’s species name (Cimolichthys levesiensis) was apparently derived from an important Turonian English Chalk site called Lewes, so it’s apparent that Leidy was paying attention to the details.

 

Regards,

 

Mike Everhart