R: paleonet Dinosaur Genera List corrections #176

["calzola" <calzola@xxxxxx>]

The plural nominative of dissertatio should be ,IIRC, dissertationes;
however the form "nomen dissertatio " is a bit unconvincing.
My poor and untrained latin may suggest something like "nomen e(or ex)
dissertatione" underlining the fact that the name "comes" (literally, since
e/ex + ablative is used to indicate the real or metaphorical provenance of
something from somewhere  ) from a dissertation.

hope it helps

Filippo Calzolari

----- Original Message -----
From: <Dinogeorge@aol.com>
To: <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2001 9:58 PM
Subject: paleonet Dinosaur Genera List corrections #176


> I recently received a copy of Dan Chure's dissertation on Allosaurus from
> University Microfilms International. In it he defines and diagnoses three
new
> taxa: Alashansaurus n. gen. for the species Chilantaisaurus maortuensis;
> Szechuanoraptor dongi n. gen. et sp. for a skeleton previously referred to
> Szechuanosaurus campi; and Allosaurus jimmadseni n.sp. for the marvelous
> Dinosaur National Monument skeleton that for a couple of years remained
> headless. Also on p. 226 he publishes the museum label name Allosaurus
> robustus for an Australian allosauroid specimen. Dan's dissertation is the
> most thorough and up-to-date study of the genus Allosaurus ever produced,
and
> it is a must-have document, at least until its contents are published in a
> scientific journal or some other scientific venue.
>
> As I perused the dissertation, I got to thinking about whether or not such
> dissertation names should be considered as published. The International
Code
> of Zoological Nomenclature expressly excludes dissertations from their
> definition of a publication, so there is no question that the above taxa,
> despite their documentation in the dissertation and its subsequent
> distribution, are not available as scientific names. But the Dinosaur
Genera
> List has a broader definition of what constitutes a published dinosaur
name.
> Clearly, such documents as emails, Internet websites, interoffice
memoranda,
> scientists' notebooks, private conference abstracts, manuscripts,
> limited-distribution preprints, and so forth are not publications. Neither
> are dissertations limited to a few personal and library copies. But when a
> dissertation becomes available to >anyone< with $31 through University
> Microfilms International, in endless multiple copies produced from a
single
> master, this is publication. An essential part of the concept of
publication
> is availability and distribution, and the Dinosaur Genera List deems
printed
> documents available freely or by purchase to any interested readers, in
> multiple identical copies, to be publications. The method of printing is
not
> relevant, as long as a more or less permanent paper copy is produced; the
> availability is.
>
> Accordingly, I have set up a new category of dinosaur name, the nomen
> dissertatio, for dinosaur names appearing in dissertations that are made
> available to all through services such as University Microfilms
> International. Such names are not scientifically available, so they are a
> kind of nomen nudum, or vernacular name. If the name created in a
> dissertation is later formally published, then its listing would change
from
> a nomen dissertatio to that of an available scientific name. Should the
> dissertation name change on publication, the name would remain in the
List,
> but with a pointer to the correct scientific name. The year of publication
is
> the year the dissertation was made available through the publication
service,
> not necessarily the year the dissertation was completed.
>
> Incidentally, my Latin is not good enough to permit me to settle on the
> designation nomen dissertatio. If someone can suggest a better or more
> appropriate term, then I'll change it by all means. Also, what would the
> plural of nomen dissertatio be? Nomina --what?
>
> So names #926 and 927 of the Dinosaur Genera List become:
>
> Alashansaurus Chure, 2001 [nomen dissertatio]
> Szechuanoraptor Chure, 2001 [nomen dissertatio]
>
> Adding the new taxa to the forthcoming second printing of Mesozoic
Meanderings
>  #3 will require some dismantling and rearranging of the listings for
> Allosaurus and Chilantaisaurus, as put forth in the dissertation. This I
> haven't yet finished, so I cannot present them here.
>
> If anybody knows of other dissertations that contain new dinosaur names
>and<
> that are available as described above, I would like to hear from you. It
is
> my aim to make the Dinosaur Genera List as complete as possible in this
> respect.
>