ancestor = "descendant"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Observe how the presence of "descended" and a normal "ancestor" makes no difference:

  2007 Christopher A. Brochu, John Long, Colin McHenry, et al. _Dinosaurs_  (rev. ed.) (S.F.: Fog City Press) 105 (caption): Birds are the living ancestors of the dinosaurs that became extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period. Alligators and crocodiles are not directly descended from the dinosaurs, but they share a common ancestor through the archosaurs.

  No dinosaur ever descended from birds. Quite the contrary.

  As all the authors but one hold Ph.Ds,  the caption was presumably written by an unnamed picture editor. Explaining the ex. as a "mere" lapsus begs the question. Why this particular lapsus?

  The book otherwise appears to be impeccably proof-read.


  JL


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