Pronunciation: BRAD-ik-NEE-mee
Meaning: Ponderous shin
Author/s: Harrison and Walker (1975)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Transylvania, Romania
Discovery Chart Position: #246
Bradycneme draculae
Bradycneme is based solely on the bottom end of a tibiotarsus—a lump of shinbone to which several ankle bones are fused—but, even so, it has attracted plenty of attention down the years. In 1929, its then-unchristened remains were assigned, along with those that would become Heptasteornis andrewsi, to the overgrown, pelican-like, Charles William Andrews-named waterfowl Elopteryx nopscai by Kamal Lambrecht. Then a relatively peaceful 46 years followed, after which Bradycneme and Heptasteornis were given their current names and moved to Bradycnemidae; a family of what authors C.J.O. Harrison and C.A. Walker believed to be large, stout-legged owls, living on an island archipelago that was Western Europe during the Mesozoic Era.
A further three years had passed before Pierce Brodkorb realised that Bradycneme was a small theropod dinosaur. And since then, it has been assigned to two distinct groups within Theropoda: Troodontidae by Osmólska and Barsbold in 1991 and Alvarezsauridae by Holtz in 2004. Other palaeontologists, though, reckon that Bradycneme, Elopteryx and Heptasteornis may be the same critter, but it's no easier proving that the remains represent one species rather than three or even two. The problem is; although all three are known from leg bones, they're not necessarily represented by the same part of the same bone, so it's impossible to know how many species they represent. The only real certainty is that Bradycneme draculae hails from Transylvania, the home of Dracula, so the name is fitting and wild stabs in the dark regarding its classification are not entirely unexpected.
A further three years had passed before Pierce Brodkorb realised that Bradycneme was a small theropod dinosaur. And since then, it has been assigned to two distinct groups within Theropoda: Troodontidae by Osmólska and Barsbold in 1991 and Alvarezsauridae by Holtz in 2004. Other palaeontologists, though, reckon that Bradycneme, Elopteryx and Heptasteornis may be the same critter, but it's no easier proving that the remains represent one species rather than three or even two. The problem is; although all three are known from leg bones, they're not necessarily represented by the same part of the same bone, so it's impossible to know how many species they represent. The only real certainty is that Bradycneme draculae hails from Transylvania, the home of Dracula, so the name is fitting and wild stabs in the dark regarding its classification are not entirely unexpected.
(Son of Dracul's ponderous shin)Etymology
Bradycneme is derived from the Greek "bradys" (slow, heavy, ponderous) and "kneme" (shinbone), referring to the the holotype whose owner would have been very ponderous... if it were actually an owl as once thought.
The species epithet, draculae, refers to the "son of Dracul" (Vlad III or Vlad the impaler), whose father (Vlad II) adopted the name Dracul (literally "dragon") after his induction into the Order of the dragon: a secret organisation that was formed to protect Christianity in Eastern Europe. These days, the son of Dracul is known simply as Dracula, which is often interpreted as "the evil one". But that's because Romania have since made their word "drac" synonymous with "devil" and they now refer to dragons as "Balaur".
Discovery
The fossils of Bradycneme were discovered at the
Sanpetru Formation of the Hateg Basin, Transylvania, Romania, by Maud Eleanora Seeley.
The holotype (BMNH A1588) consists of a tibiotarsus (the lower shin, fused to ankle bones).
