FONA Herzogae, a newly discovered dinosaur species in Utah’s Cedar Mountains, is named after a Chamorro goddess.
Paleontologist Habib Abraham, a member of the research team, whose grandparents were from Guam, gave the dinosaur the genus name “Phona,” based on an ancient Chamorro creation myth. The specific name “Herzogae” honors Lisa Herzog, manager of paleontology operations at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
According to a press release from North Carolina State University, where Abrahami is studying for his doctorate, Phona was a “small, herbivorous dinosaur.”
This dinosaur had anatomical features that led scientists to believe it was capable of burrowing and burrowing underground: it had “large biceps, powerful muscle attachments in the hips and legs, fused bones along the pelvis… and hind limbs that were proportionally larger than the forelimbs.”
Abraham joked that the dinosaur was “kind of like a giant gopher mixed with a herbivorous crocodile and kind of like an ostrich,” and could walk on its hind legs.
Abrahami told Variety that “one of the most unusual things” about Phona is that it was one of only two dinosaur species known to dig burrows.
Phona also raised its young underground, which Abrahami said may have encouraged predators to seek shelter underground. Phona was a “small” dinosaur that could have grown to as much as seven feet from tail to snout as an adult, Abrahami said, adding that researchers were able to find many of Phona’s bones intact. Phona’s burrowing habits helped keep it well preserved, Abrahami said.
It was this connection between digging and fossilization that led Abraham to see similarities between dinosaurs and Chamorro creation myths.
The name Fona comes from the Chamorro goddess Fona, who created the world from parts of her divine brother’s body after he died. When her work was complete, Fona turned into rock, from which all humans came.
In his scientific paper on Fona herzogae, Avrahami wrote that at a site he called “Mini Troll,” he and his team found two “subadult dinosaurs” that could have been male and female, or “siblings.” The specimens “fell into the ground and fossilized,” he said.
It took Abrahami many years to realise that the Fona were a race of their own.
“I was able to collect all the bones from that skeleton, travel around the world, look at various of its relatives and understand that these features are unique,” he said.
Abrahami, who has declared his “craving for all things” Pacific culture, said he was honoured to be able to name the first dinosaur after his cultural heritage.
He decided on Fona as the genus name after consulting with Guam cultural experts including Dietrichus Duhaironsod, Jeremy Cepeda, Ralph Unpingco and Brandon Cruz.
“We chose the ancestral creation story because it’s a story about beauty, life and creation, and it more closely reflects the life of the dinosaur Phona,” Abrahami said.
Naming species after Indigenous cultures is an attempt to “decolonize” paleontology, in addition to honoring one’s roots, he said, adding that Western science is full of examples of a “dark history.”
“There have been many instances where Western colonial powers have descended or parachuted onto Native American lands to extract minerals, fossils and dinosaurs from Native American lands,” he told Variety. “They [specimens] “Bringing them back to Western museums would take away the cultural and natural heritage of Indigenous peoples’ lands.”
Abraham hopes that respecting indigenous cultures will help foster a more diverse crop of scientists in the future.
“Ultimately, what I hope is that it will inspire kids growing up to see that Indigenous cultures are being represented more in science,” he said. “There’s a place for all kinds of peoples and cultures to thrive. We’re really trying to create a community that embraces different cultures.”
