Editing Porbeagle (section)

==Taxonomy==
[[File:Rostre de maraiche-shark nose.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|left|alt=A calcareous skeletal structure that looks like a thick tripod|The calcified rostral (snout) cartilages of a porbeagle: Its specific epithet ''nasus'' means "nose".]]
The [[etymology]] of the word "porbeagle" is obscure. A common suggestion is that it combines "[[porpoise]]" and "[[beagle]]", referencing this shark's shape and tenacious hunting habits.<ref name="roman"/> Another is that it is derived from the [[Cornish language|Cornish]] ''porth'', meaning "[[harbor]]", and ''bugel'', meaning "[[shepherd]]".<ref name="peirce"/> The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' states that the word was either borrowed from Cornish or formed from a Cornish first element with the English "beagle". The ''Dictionary'' also notes that no evidence exists for a connection to the [[French language|French]] ''porc'', meaning "swine", or to ''porpoise'', as has been proposed.<ref name="oed"/> Other [[common name]]s for the porbeagle include Atlantic mackerel shark, Beaumaris shark, bottle-nosed shark, and blue dog.<ref name="roman"/>

The first [[scientific description]] of the porbeagle was authored by French [[naturalist]] [[Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre]] in the 1788 ''[[Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique|Tableau encyclopédique et methodique des trois règnes de la nature]]'', and based on an earlier 1769 account by Welsh naturalist [[Thomas Pennant]]. Bonnaterre named the shark ''Squalus nasus'', the [[specific name (zoology)|specific epithet]] ''nasus'' being [[Latin]] for "nose".<ref name="roman"/><ref name="bonnaterre"/> In 1816, French naturalist [[Georges Cuvier]] placed the porbeagle into its own subgenus, ''Lamna'', which later authors elevated to the rank of full genus.<ref name="compagno"/>