Dinosaur named for the Harry Potter books
May. 22nd, 2006 04:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acroyearNew dino gets name fit for a 'Potter' dragon | IndyStar.com:
New dino gets name fit for a 'Potter' dragon
Children's Museum will celebrate designation, which J.K. Rowling endorsesWith a green light from scientists and "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, The Children's Museum's 66-million-year-old dinosaur skull with dragonlike features finally has a name.
The museum will celebrate the naming of the recently discovered dinosaur species today with an unveiling of the artifact, which museum officials have spent the past two years cleaning and reassembling.
Dracorex hogwartsia, a member of the pachycephalosaur family, honors Rowling's use of dragons in her wildly popular children's book series.
The name comes from the Latin words draco (dragon), rex (king), and hogwartsia (after the fictional Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in "Harry Potter").
Rowling cited her children's love of dinosaurs in endorsing the name. "The naming . . . is easily the most unexpected honour to have come my way since the publication of the Harry Potter books," she said in a written statement.
The dinosaur's skull mixes spiky horns, bumps and a long muzzle. But unlike other "pachys," which have domed foreheads, this one is flat-headed. That makes it a new species.
