Yeah, it's a hybrid language, scientific nomenclature. Thankfully, it doesn't have tables of cases to learn. Thanks for everyone's input. I'll renew my efforts to learn. I bet it will come in handy when I start my zoology degree.
Learning scientific names
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eddie123
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It is hard and sometimes you have to write them down but sometimes i find that when i do alot of research on an animal and im interested the scientific name just stays in my head. Thats what i do, i would love to hear others
saximus
Almost Legendary
I think using them in everyday speech is a good idea because it's also easy to forget them. I was getting on a roll with the number of scientific names I knew but now I can hardly remember the names of the ones I own :/
False Thecadactylus?
snakeluvver
Very Well-Known Member
And dactylus means foot Im pretty sure. So its False something foot. What does theca mean?
No Thecadactylus is a gecko genus from the Americas.
saximus
Almost Legendary
Hmmm false foot case/cover - I would assume it relates to the fact that their tail has the same sort of pads that they have on their feet so their tail acts like a "fake" extra foot?
sesa-sayin
Active Member
and then there is "Christmas Orchid "...this is a diff. orchid in many parts of the world. all diff...we have one. Brazil has one. etc...named as such, becaust they flower now
It is not that hard, it takes time but in the end scientific or Latin names are easier to use in the end. As for meanings and pronunciation try to get a hold of : encyclopedia of Australian animals - reptiles by Harry Ehmann published in 1992.
Jungle carpets were named after Cheyne Wellington.
As for levels of taxonomy below family there is subfamilies, genera, sub genera, species and sub species. The problem is that while all species concepts are somewhat arbitrary not all taxonomists agree or use the same species concept nor do some accept some of the available levels.
.Cheers Scott
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Jungle carpets were named after Cheyne Wellington.
As for levels of taxonomy below family there is subfamilies, genera, sub genera, species and sub species. The problem is that while all species concepts are somewhat arbitrary not all taxonomists agree or use the same species concept nor do some accept some of the available levels.
.Cheers Scott
Sent from an iphone
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GeckPhotographer
Very Well-Known Member
Well if you want to try and figure out the meanings of scientific names heres one for you.
Genus: Crinia
(For those with a bit of know, I'm aware I'm being mean)
Genus: Crinia
(For those with a bit of know, I'm aware I'm being mean)
Scientific names allow us to communicate across the globe about particular taxons, while common names may deffer form region to region. But it's funny when you go to an international conference and presenters from different (non-English speaking countries) pronounce scientific names very differently. Sometimes so differently that if they didn't put up a picture of the animal on the projection screen, you wouldn't know what the hack they're talking about. Latin is a dead language, so I guess, we can do with it what we like. LOL
Alright, Geck. What the heck is it? The first thing I thought was "endocrine system". When I looked it up, I discovered crinis in Latin is "hair", but in Greek it's "secrete". My best guess: is it something to do with the genus' glands, or lack thereof?
Of course, it could just be the name of the zoologist's daughter...
I am never going to forget the name "Crinia" now.
jack
Very Well-Known Member
i hope the latin teacher was sacked, mega- and -pod are Greek!
Haha!
That's the etymology part. I probably didn't make that clear.Got any curly scientific names for us to try to translate, Jack?
GeckPhotographer
Very Well-Known Member
As far as we know it has no meaning and was made up by the author because he thought it sounded good. Thus me saying I was being nasty.
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