Dinosaur Name?

[ysabetwordsmith]

I need a hand from someone fluent in the Latin construction of binomial nomenclature.

The original is Oculudentavis khaungraae, the smallest dinosaur found.

With the same genus of Oculudentavis, I am creating a different species, so I believe that I need an adjectival form whose grammatical gender agrees with the generic name already established.  The components I've chosen are micro- (small) and phobos (fear/panic).  That is, "tiny and terrifying," which it is.  Looking up Latin declension, the closest I can get is Oculudentavis microphobis.  Is this correct, or should it be something else?

Discuss.

Comments

[jtthomas]

I think it might make a difference that phobos comes from the Greek, but I'm not sure on that.

Well ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

It might, might not. Many scientific names are a mishmash of Latin, Greek, English, and more recently Chinese. The results can get pretty peculiar.

Okay, let's see, other possibilities ...

More Latin words for fear
timor noun
terror, alarm, awe, dread, apprehension

metus noun
dread, terror, apprehension, fright, awe

formido noun
terror, awe, dread, panic, fearfulness

pavor noun
terror, dread, panic, fright, alarm

terror noun
terror, dread, awe, panic, fright


Latin Translation "terrifying"
terribilis nimis

More Latin words for terrifying:

horribilis adjective
100% of use
horrible, terrible, amazing, rough, horrific

horrificus adjective
horrific, horrible, dreadful, chilling, frightening

horrifer adjective
appalling, appaling, frightening, dreadful, chilling

praedirus adjective
terrifying


Latin Translation "terrible"
horribilis

More Latin words for terrible:

horrendus adjective
horrible, dreadful, appalling, horrific, awesome

improbus adjective
wicked, dishonest, bad, shameless, rascally

dirus adjective
dire, dreadful, direful, dread, fearful


I want something that sounds good, as well as being composed in proper format. Of the above options, "praedirus" and "dirus" seem promising. That would become "micropraedirus" or "microdirus." The former is longer, but hints at "predator," which they are. The latter is more concise and has the same syllable count as my original idea. While "terrifying" is not listed in the given translation for that word, it is a synonym of the ones listed.

Thoughts?

Re: Well ...

[(Anonymous)]

Use one where the meaning is easily comprehensible. Terror and horrible are common. Dire is slightly fancier. A phobia is a fear, and I more easily think of 'fearful' when I hear phobia.

Re: Well ...

[mdlbear]

IIRC, Dirus is also the species name of the Dire Wolf, for what that's worth.

Re: Well ...

[technoshaman]

I was thinking Direwolf myself, so.... yeah. It's a moose among us bears... (you-nanny-moose)

Re: Well ...

[thnidu]

I'm sorry to be so late getting back to you on this. — No wonder I couldn't figure out "Oculudentavis"!

«The genus name Oculudentavis was chosen to include the combination of the words oculus, dentes, and avis. These Latin words translate to "eye", "teeth", and "bird" respectively. The specific name honors Khaung Ra, the woman who donated the piece of amber to the Hupoge Amber Museum for study.»
Wikipedia

"Avis" is a feminine noun, so whatever adjective you choose should also be feminine singular. A search for appropriate adjectives took me here. I searched there for entries containing the English word "terrifying". I think this one is best for your purpose:

ἐκφοβητικός, ή, όν, terrifying -- ekphobetikos; Latinized feminine ekphobetika or ecphobetica

There were several others, but some were ambiguous ("terrifying" or "terrified"), and with others my Greek is far enough behind me that I couldn't tell what the fem.sg.nom. would be. One possible (#1) seemed to be plural, maybe as used in the source it was taken from.


1. βαρυταρβής, ές, terrifying ~~ barytarbes
2. δειματοποιός, όν, terrifying ~~ deimatopoios
3. ἐκφοβητικός, ή, όν, terrifying -- ekphobetikos