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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by thedude on February 14, 2007
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Agkistrodon, according to Mitchell in Reptiles of Va means Hooked-tooth. I've also seen it explained as "fishhook tooth" in reference to their recurved fangs.
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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by LarryDFishel on February 14, 2007
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That was my understanding also. My greek dictionary (which I bought mostly for this purpose) lists a word that in ancient greek would have been pronounced roughly "Agkistri" and means "fish-hook".
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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by earthguy on February 14, 2007
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I love this post!
If ever you have a curiosity about the 'official' spelling or classification of an organism, I would suggest going to www.itis.gov
That's what we have to do in order to publish. They aren't always 'correct' as far as I'm concerned (they have yet to recognize Pantherophis), but they are official (and very thoroug as far as nomenclature history)
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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by Cro on February 14, 2007
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Larry, you are right that the scientific names are not supposed to be "translated" into English, and I should probably hot have used the word "translate."
I have been reading some of the works by Bill Long who is a specialist in English words and their Greek and Latin origins.
I am finding that some words like the prefix "pisci" and the prefix "ichthyo" have the identical meaning in English translations from the Latin, both meaning "fish."
So, our Cottonmouth could have been named "ichthyovorus" just as likely as it was named "piscivorus."
What Mr. Long is stating in some of his articles is that many of the "fish related" scientific terms came from the Greek Stem, rather than from the Latin Stem. Thus the difference of piscivorus and piscivorous. It would seem that many of the "fish" related names seem to break the taxonomic rules that were supposed to be used.
So, we end up with "fish" related names that are based on the Greek root instead of the Latin root.
This problem did not happen with other animals or plants, and they recieved the Latin root names, rather than the Greek root names, thus the origin of words like insectivorous and carnivorous.
Nomenclature is something I have allways had an interest in. I am now thinking I should have spent more time in Charlie LaDucas High School Latin class, (a "dead" language at that time), and less time in Frau Sisk`s High School German class (considered the "scientific" language at that time), LOL!
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by Cro on February 14, 2007
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Joshua, it is not surprising that "itis.gov" is yet to recognize "Pantherophis."
Folks will publish in a scientific journal, and say that they are changing the scientific name of an organism, and state their reasons.
After that, a lot of folks unfortunatly quickly jump on the "new name" bandwagon, and start using the new name. We start seeing the name used all over the internet and in publications.
What many forget, is that the proposal for a new name is just that, a "proposal." It has to pass scientific review before it is accepted into general use.
And "Pantherophis" is one of those name change that has not become widly accepted yet, and it might never make it. There are many taxonomist who do not want to seperate the Elaphe into Old and New World Species, so it is not set in stone yet.
Give it some time and watch to see where this evolves.
Best Regards JohnZ
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RE: piscivorus or piscivorous?
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by Cro on February 14, 2007
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Larry, I should have said "translating Greek and Latin words into Scientific Names," instead of saying "translating Greek and Latin words into English words." Thanks for catching my mistake.
Best Regards JohnZ
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