OU dinosaur named for Boren

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ University of Oklahoma President David Boren has been honored in many ways through the years. <br><br>But having a dinosaur named after him might be one of the most unique. <br><br>Richard

Wednesday, October 31st 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) _ University of Oklahoma President David Boren has been honored in many ways through the years.

But having a dinosaur named after him might be one of the most unique.

Richard Cifelli, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History, and Zofie Keilan-Jaworowska, a colleague from Poland, have dubbed a new species of dinosaur the Atokatheridium boreni Atoka.

The name comes from the county where the specimens were discovered, the Greek theridion, meaning a small beast, and the president of the University of Oklahoma.

The Atokatheridium boreni Atoka was a small mammal that lived in Oklahoma during the Early Cretaceous epoch about 110 million years ago.

Scientists discovered the creature in Atoka County.