David Campbell wrote,
"Especially if the original description was not too clear, the name may be
misused until someone discovers the mistake. The most extreme example of
this that I know of is a genus and species, purportedly a dinosaur, that
turns out to have as holotype a chunk of petrified wood."
Another extreme example is the early name Scrotum humanum, which turned out
to be the joint of a dinosaur leg bone.
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama