Pronunciation: MAG-na-MAN-us
Meaning: Great hand
Author/s: Fuentes et al. (2017)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Soria, Spain
Discovery Chart Position: #937
Magnamanus soriaensis
(Great hand of Soria)Etymology
Magnamanus is derived from the Latin "magnus" (great or large) and "manus" (hand). By the by, in early christian art Jesus is often depicted making a hand gesture known as the "magna manus" which he blatantly robbed from Buddhism—specifically from Amoghasiddhi, the Green Buddha of the North—where it is known as "adhaya-mudra". With the right hand raised to heart level and the palm facing out and fingers pointing up, this is a gesture of protection, meaning Buddha has your back.
The species epithet, soriaensis, means "from Soria" in Latin.
Discovery
The remains of Magnamanus were discovered in a 28m2 area at "Zorralbo I" in the Golmayo Formation, Soria Province, Spain, by husband and wife Manuel Meijide Calvo and Carolina Fuentes Vidarte, and their sons Federico and Manuel Meijide Fuentes, in 2000. Spanish family names (aka surnames or lastnames) are a bit unusual compared to, say, English family names, in that everyone has two of them and women rarely change theirs when they get married. Their offspring will have a two part family name, with the first part (ie; "Meijide") being the father's first-of-two surnames (his father's family name) and the second part (ie; "Fuentes") being the mother's first-of-two surnames (her father's family name), so only fathers pass their family name down through the generations, just like the English do... but in double quantity.
