Well at least they're honest about it and the name does blend pretty seamlessly with other dinosaur names.  

why would they call it han solo? I can't see any connection with han solo to trilobytes

 

Exactly!

 

Han refers to the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China, where the trilobite was discovered. Han refers to the genus of the creature. Solo refers to the fact that the fossil was apparently the last survivor of its family when it was found. Thus Solo.

Han solo is the species name.

So there's your explanation.

Apparently the guy who discovered the fossil has done this before though. He named another species of trilobites he discovered after Muppet characters. Why? Because he said it looked like them.

 

Oh.

 

I like it, it's nice for Pokemon fans.

 

No he named it as part of a dare.

 

It can be both. Some friends could have dared him to name it after a Star Wars character, he looked for a way to name it after one while still making it make sense. Found out about there being the Han Chinese people, and just came up with the solo bit. Bam. Han. Solo.

 

Aerodactylus is the Genus not the specific pterasaurs.

at any rate cool.

 

They have always named things after silly stuff.

Lucy was named from a Beatles song, way before now when they "stopped trying".

Naming things from pop culture isn't anything new bud.

I'm sorry but I find it highly unlikely you have never at least heard or seen some type of Pokémon media in your life.

 

i can't stop reading the first link.

i think the aerodactyl jokes are dry now. it had a good run.

 

Why would I know about a Japanese game?

 

Because its a pop culture icon. Its like not knowing who Superman is, or Batman, or Santa Claus.

Even if you don't play the games or seen the shows, not even knowing about it is incredibly unlikely.

 

I have no interest in Japanese media. End of discussion.

 

I don't know why people are shocked; it isn't like scientists don't have a sense of humour or something. I seriously believe the pub part of this story though  

 

Its called pop culture osmosis. Basically even if you don't have an interest in Japanese media, doesn't mean you don't know anything about Pokemon. You should have some knowledge of it if you pay attention to your surroundings.

Like you could know how to properly spell the word by just looking at the thread's title.

 

I don't follow pop culture.

 

You don't have to catch pop culture osmosis.

People still know who the Doctor is, despite not even watching the show. Its because other works reference it and talk about it. People know about Twilight Zone despite never watching a single episode thanks to Osmosis.

 

you do know that pokémon is played all over the world, right? been in the states since September 1998.

 

That is freaking awesome.

 

ok, back to topic:

how many types of pterosaurs have been discovered?