I admit I haven't been very active in this thread for a while. That is going to change, so prepare for more boring (to most people/everyone except pibbuR).
Here are a few post about animal names. Some of them are QI ("quite intesting"), but today we'll start with the basics.
Animals are named using the binominal system, that is they're given two names. One identifying the genus to which the animal belongs, the other identifying the species within the genus. Typically the first character in genus name is uppercase, but lowercase for the species one. A couple of examples:
I restrict my post to animal names. That's because the filthy botanists and microbiologists tend to use their own systems for naming species. While some germs have classic binominal names such as the plague bacteria, "Yersinia pestis" (not to be confused with the black metal band or the album by the Norwegian viking metal band Helheim), viruses are typically given other types of names, like "Rabies lyssavirus" and the "Human Immunodeficiency Virus", or HIV (actually there are two of'em: HIV-1 and HIV-2)
Quite often the name describe properties of the species, like
Other names indicate where the animal lives (or lived). For instance the brown rat. "Rattus norvegicus" was so named because some british nitwit thought it came from Norway (it doesn't). Or (a bit egocentric?) it's relation to us: The pig is "Sus domesticus", the dog is "Canis familiaris".
Quite often the name doesn't say much. The western gorilla is called "Gorilla gorilla". Other times the name may be directly misleading. The name of the chimpanzee means cave dweller. AFAIK, no living chimpanzee has been found inside caves. For all I know, there may have been dead ones, perhaps caught and eaten by cave-dwelling lions (Panthera leo) or hyaenas (Hyaena hyeana), but the name still sucks. BTW, the bonobo aka dwarf chimp is called "Pan paniscus" which supposedly means a small Pan.
BTW2: The group "Troglobites" means several species of small (mostly) furless animals gathering together in a cave.
In some cases animals are given a trinominal name, when a species can be divided into two or more subspecies. Subspecies typically live in different regions or periods, limiting the possibility for interbreeding and with small morpholigical differences, but not enough to classify them as different species. The western gorilla is divided into two subspecies: the Cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) and the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla (!)). I suppose the two are separated by a river (gorillas can't swim).
What about us: Well, we're actually "Homo sapiens sapiens" (the very, very wise human?). Which means there must be or have been a separate group of modern humans. And there was: The extinct "Homo sapiens idaltu". NB Subspecies has nothing to do with race. All living humans belong to Homo sapiens sapiens.
Well, that's enough for today.
pibbuR who promises to post more about this some time (unspecified) after midnight.
Here are a few post about animal names. Some of them are QI ("quite intesting"), but today we'll start with the basics.
Animals are named using the binominal system, that is they're given two names. One identifying the genus to which the animal belongs, the other identifying the species within the genus. Typically the first character in genus name is uppercase, but lowercase for the species one. A couple of examples:
- Chimpanzee: "Pan troglodytes"
- Cat: "Felis catus"
- Small intestinal roundworm: "Ascaris lumbricoides".
I restrict my post to animal names. That's because the filthy botanists and microbiologists tend to use their own systems for naming species. While some germs have classic binominal names such as the plague bacteria, "Yersinia pestis" (not to be confused with the black metal band or the album by the Norwegian viking metal band Helheim), viruses are typically given other types of names, like "Rabies lyssavirus" and the "Human Immunodeficiency Virus", or HIV (actually there are two of'em: HIV-1 and HIV-2)
Quite often the name describe properties of the species, like
- "Homo sapiens" which means wise or knowlegeable (hu)man
- The giant panda: "Ailuropoda melanoleuca" - "melanoleuca" comes from black and white.
- Dusky doplhin: "Sagmatias obscurus". Obscurus means dark, and this doplhin has a dark colored back.
Other names indicate where the animal lives (or lived). For instance the brown rat. "Rattus norvegicus" was so named because some british nitwit thought it came from Norway (it doesn't). Or (a bit egocentric?) it's relation to us: The pig is "Sus domesticus", the dog is "Canis familiaris".
Quite often the name doesn't say much. The western gorilla is called "Gorilla gorilla". Other times the name may be directly misleading. The name of the chimpanzee means cave dweller. AFAIK, no living chimpanzee has been found inside caves. For all I know, there may have been dead ones, perhaps caught and eaten by cave-dwelling lions (Panthera leo) or hyaenas (Hyaena hyeana), but the name still sucks. BTW, the bonobo aka dwarf chimp is called "Pan paniscus" which supposedly means a small Pan.
BTW2: The group "Troglobites" means several species of small (mostly) furless animals gathering together in a cave.
In some cases animals are given a trinominal name, when a species can be divided into two or more subspecies. Subspecies typically live in different regions or periods, limiting the possibility for interbreeding and with small morpholigical differences, but not enough to classify them as different species. The western gorilla is divided into two subspecies: the Cross river gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) and the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla (!)). I suppose the two are separated by a river (gorillas can't swim).
What about us: Well, we're actually "Homo sapiens sapiens" (the very, very wise human?). Which means there must be or have been a separate group of modern humans. And there was: The extinct "Homo sapiens idaltu". NB Subspecies has nothing to do with race. All living humans belong to Homo sapiens sapiens.
Well, that's enough for today.
pibbuR who promises to post more about this some time (unspecified) after midnight.
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