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Can anybody explain how a persone declairs a scientific name for a specific sp..? :?
Scientific names, whare do they come from?
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A combination of Latin and Greek constructs the name...
The genus will often be a distinguishing feature of that genus, or something that distinguishes it from the other genera
Take "Avicularia Avicularia" for example... How was Aviculariaderived? What is its significance?
Well, Avicularia's etymology (basically "what it means") is along the lines of "bird (latin is avi) and the latin 'culina' is place of eating... so we know avicularia roughly means "Bird eating"
Why is it named this? Upon researching, you'll notice this was the first theraphosid to be described (Karl Von Linne in 1758) and how he discovered it, was to see it sat eating a bird.
Well, the A.Avicularia was the first he saw, so this adopted the name "a.Avicularia"
From there, other species where discovered, of which, shared the same anotomical details as the "A.Avic". Despite these species NOT being discovered whilst feasting on a bird, they did fit in the "Avicularia genus" so where placed into it. If that makes sense?
Take "avicularia versicolor" - it's within the Avicularia genus, as you know, yet it differs to a.avic.. How exactly? Well the colours for a start. Versicolor basically means "multicoloured". Many other animals and plants have "versicolor" as their species name too, out of interest.
I'm putting this kinda stuff on my website, thoguh there's also a brief explanation on the ATS, of which I'm NOT stealing the information from, I'm studying latin (blah blah blah) at college and trying to figure it out and understand ti myself.
The genus may describe physical characteristics, or anatomical differences to closely related species... i.e. "Lasiodora" and "Lasiodorides" withthe latter being distinguished via multiple labium capsules (I think) aswell as other details...
Some thatarn't on the ATS that I've figured (I hope!) also provide information on the attributal side of the spider... Take "Citharischius" which is a musical reference; stridulation? Well the Citharischuis can stridulate like a mofo...
Another few examples (sorry to ramble) would be:
Halopelma Livium (Haplopelma meaning basically 'light soled') and lividum meaning "blue)
Haplopelma Aureopilosum (Again, haplopelma...) Aureopilosum meaning "golden haired"... Now, what is it that distinguishes the Aureopilosum from the other haplopelmas? On the inside of the front legs? Yup... Golden hairs...
Haplopelma Schmidti - Again haplopelma, but this time, schmidt in reference to the describer as far as I know, despite records saying von wirth (hello if you're reading!) discovering it.. Maybe an honourary name!?
Haplopelma Albostriatum - Again, haplopelma (it shares the features present within the genus, yes?) Then albostriatum, this basically means "white striping" again, the dominant feature of this species
Hope that provides some insight
The genus will often be a distinguishing feature of that genus, or something that distinguishes it from the other genera
Take "Avicularia Avicularia" for example... How was Aviculariaderived? What is its significance?
Well, Avicularia's etymology (basically "what it means") is along the lines of "bird (latin is avi) and the latin 'culina' is place of eating... so we know avicularia roughly means "Bird eating"
Why is it named this? Upon researching, you'll notice this was the first theraphosid to be described (Karl Von Linne in 1758) and how he discovered it, was to see it sat eating a bird.
Well, the A.Avicularia was the first he saw, so this adopted the name "a.Avicularia"
From there, other species where discovered, of which, shared the same anotomical details as the "A.Avic". Despite these species NOT being discovered whilst feasting on a bird, they did fit in the "Avicularia genus" so where placed into it. If that makes sense?
Take "avicularia versicolor" - it's within the Avicularia genus, as you know, yet it differs to a.avic.. How exactly? Well the colours for a start. Versicolor basically means "multicoloured". Many other animals and plants have "versicolor" as their species name too, out of interest.
I'm putting this kinda stuff on my website, thoguh there's also a brief explanation on the ATS, of which I'm NOT stealing the information from, I'm studying latin (blah blah blah) at college and trying to figure it out and understand ti myself.
The genus may describe physical characteristics, or anatomical differences to closely related species... i.e. "Lasiodora" and "Lasiodorides" withthe latter being distinguished via multiple labium capsules (I think) aswell as other details...
Some thatarn't on the ATS that I've figured (I hope!) also provide information on the attributal side of the spider... Take "Citharischius" which is a musical reference; stridulation? Well the Citharischuis can stridulate like a mofo...
Another few examples (sorry to ramble) would be:
Halopelma Livium (Haplopelma meaning basically 'light soled') and lividum meaning "blue)
Haplopelma Aureopilosum (Again, haplopelma...) Aureopilosum meaning "golden haired"... Now, what is it that distinguishes the Aureopilosum from the other haplopelmas? On the inside of the front legs? Yup... Golden hairs...
Haplopelma Schmidti - Again haplopelma, but this time, schmidt in reference to the describer as far as I know, despite records saying von wirth (hello if you're reading!) discovering it.. Maybe an honourary name!?
Haplopelma Albostriatum - Again, haplopelma (it shares the features present within the genus, yes?) Then albostriatum, this basically means "white striping" again, the dominant feature of this species
Hope that provides some insight
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Hey thanx for the lesson Deif. Now you really spiked my intrest. I'm gonna look up a lot of names now just to see how they compair to that specific sp..
Hi Deifiler,
Nice to see other people with the same interests...
Try to get your hands on Peter Klaas's NEW book (not the english version of his 1989 version) called "Vogelspinnen" (blue cover with an H. lividum on it)... in German of course...
If you can scamble your way through German, you will find interesting "breakdown" of the latin names with the explanation in German of the meaning of them... (if I understood the whole thing correctly!LOL).
Surely, there will be some German colleagues that will be more then happy to help you out with the translation for your personnal reference.
Just thought I should point that out...
Take care
Martin
Nice to see other people with the same interests...
Try to get your hands on Peter Klaas's NEW book (not the english version of his 1989 version) called "Vogelspinnen" (blue cover with an H. lividum on it)... in German of course...
If you can scamble your way through German, you will find interesting "breakdown" of the latin names with the explanation in German of the meaning of them... (if I understood the whole thing correctly!LOL).
Surely, there will be some German colleagues that will be more then happy to help you out with the translation for your personnal reference.
Just thought I should point that out...
Take care
Martin
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If you read Volker's paper describing Haplopelma schmidti, he notes that the species is named after Dr. Günter Schmidt, who first realised the spider in question was a new species. I believe Volker has since changed his opinion of Dr. Schmidt!
Apparently other names were considered - albobarbatum (signifying the white "beard" of hairs on the chelericae) was an early option.
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The suffix to the specific epithet [species name] provides a clue as to the origin of the name. Species names ending in "i", such as B. smithi, honor an individual. NOTE: The "i" is pronounced "ee", NOT "eye" as most people incorrectly use. Also, this name is not of the author of the species description - that would be incredibly vain.
A specific epithet that terminates in "-ensis" refers to a geographical area, such as Avicularia juruensis (the Jurua River of Peru). The majority of species names are descriptive, and although commonly of Latin or Greek origin, they also can be English or another language, but are typically "Latinized". A Latin dictionary is the first step in deciphering these names. The meaning/origin of words is called "etymology" and many species description explain the origin of the specific epithet.
Some species names are compound and fit into two of the above categories. For example, Avicularia azuraklaasi, which ends in "i" and honors Peter Klaas, but the "azura" refers to its bluish coloration.
The American Tarantula Society website http://www.atshq.org/articles has a 2-part file that explains the meaning of many of the specific epithets of tarantulas, and also has a pronounciation guide to scientific names.
And while I am on that subject, Poecilotheria is pronounced "pee-sil-uh-THUR-ee-uh", not PO-sil-oh-theer-ee-uh!!! and specific epithets ALWAYS begin with a lower case letter! (Although one hundred plus years ago it was capitalized if it was a proper noun - BUT NO LONGER!) Alright, now that I got two of my pet peeves out of my system
And finally, Avicularia means "small bird" NOT "bird-eating". The latter is a common misconception due to "cularia" being similar to "culinary". However, "Avicula" means "small bird" and the "ria" suffix means "pertaining to". Madame Meriam's painting of an Avicularia eating a small bird did create the silly term "bird-eating" and added to the confusion.
A specific epithet that terminates in "-ensis" refers to a geographical area, such as Avicularia juruensis (the Jurua River of Peru). The majority of species names are descriptive, and although commonly of Latin or Greek origin, they also can be English or another language, but are typically "Latinized". A Latin dictionary is the first step in deciphering these names. The meaning/origin of words is called "etymology" and many species description explain the origin of the specific epithet.
Some species names are compound and fit into two of the above categories. For example, Avicularia azuraklaasi, which ends in "i" and honors Peter Klaas, but the "azura" refers to its bluish coloration.
The American Tarantula Society website http://www.atshq.org/articles has a 2-part file that explains the meaning of many of the specific epithets of tarantulas, and also has a pronounciation guide to scientific names.
And while I am on that subject, Poecilotheria is pronounced "pee-sil-uh-THUR-ee-uh", not PO-sil-oh-theer-ee-uh!!! and specific epithets ALWAYS begin with a lower case letter! (Although one hundred plus years ago it was capitalized if it was a proper noun - BUT NO LONGER!) Alright, now that I got two of my pet peeves out of my system
And finally, Avicularia means "small bird" NOT "bird-eating". The latter is a common misconception due to "cularia" being similar to "culinary". However, "Avicula" means "small bird" and the "ria" suffix means "pertaining to". Madame Meriam's painting of an Avicularia eating a small bird did create the silly term "bird-eating" and added to the confusion.
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Wow, some great stuff. Thanx guys.
Thanx guys.
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Hmmmm, Yellow undersides, pee... Makes sense ;P
I pronounce it the second way and everyone seems to know what I'm talking about when I do. I think I'll be lazy and continue to pronounce it that way.
Sorry Michael
Scott
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hmm. this whole time ive been pronouncing it "po-eh-si-loe-theer-ee-uh". learn something new everyday.
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You have to think of it as "œ" instead of "oe". It's a dipthong and is pronounced "EE". Just like you would pronounce "Caesar (Cæsar)" as "Ceesar" (I know that in classical Latin it was pronounced "Kaiser).
(if it's not showing up, I inserted the character that looks like an "O and E" squished together.)
(if it's not showing up, I inserted the character that looks like an "O and E" squished together.)
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EXACTLY! The Latin (or 'Latinized') "oe" is a long "eee" sound.
Another example is the name of another arboreal genus - Psalmopoeus. It is pronounced "sal-muh-PEE-uhs". (Many people incorrectly pronounce it "sal-Mo-pee-iss") - Remember, the emphasis is usually on the second to the last syllable.
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dang I just don't know if I can go to saying peesilotheria, after saying po silotheria , but ill try.
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Thank you
Thank you, Michael Jacobi!!!!
I have been wondering for years if anyone else knew that the nickname "pokies" didn't make any sense based on the pronunciation. I am incredibly glad to know that someone besides me was anal enough to notice!!!
Joanie
Thank you, Michael Jacobi!!!!
I have been wondering for years if anyone else knew that the nickname "pokies" didn't make any sense based on the pronunciation. I am incredibly glad to know that someone besides me was anal enough to notice!!!
Joanie
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sp sjould we start calling them peekies
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Pee-seeze
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Well, actually I'd call it pikilothiria. As It sounds terribly Greek.
Poikilia = Variety
Thira = Pray
All together: pikilothiria
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It's really good to be Greek or to simply speak Greek!
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Poecilotheria (Latin + Greek), colored + beast
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Hi,
all the best,
Martin
in that book there is only a very small fraction of the names explained. An (almost) complete list you'll find here: http://www.spideretymology.de.vu/tarcan said:
all the best,
Martin