I am not a scientist, that can be said our loud. But I have been trying to learn at least some of the latin scorpion names of all sorts of different species and try to identify them by picture. How did you guys learn? How long did it take? Is there perhaps.... a song.... or a poem.... or something?
Learning the Scorpion Names
- Thread starter Dracorex5
- Start date
When I first saw Latin/scientific names I was baffled. After a while though, you start to get familar with them.
I used to obsessively read books about exotic animals when I was younger, so became familar with the use of Latin names. Once your familiar with them, it's no different to learning common names for things. It's just memorising them really.
My tip would be, read lots about scorpions, go through old posts on here and other forums, look at the scorpion files website, think of a scorpion you know the common name of and google it, you'll learn the Latin name plus loads of other stuff about it.
I think it's just something you pick up on as you progress as a keeper. There is no 'proper' way to teach yourself the Latin name of lots of different species and be able to identify them, it's just something you learn as you become more experienced and/or read more.
Edit: oh yer, and the first start is to only use the Latin names for the scorpions you own, forget their common names. Common names are very often inaccurate anyway lol. Say if you own an emperor scorpion, call it a Pandinus imperator, or P. imperator, rather than its common name, so you start to get the hang of it.
I used to obsessively read books about exotic animals when I was younger, so became familar with the use of Latin names. Once your familiar with them, it's no different to learning common names for things. It's just memorising them really.
My tip would be, read lots about scorpions, go through old posts on here and other forums, look at the scorpion files website, think of a scorpion you know the common name of and google it, you'll learn the Latin name plus loads of other stuff about it.
I think it's just something you pick up on as you progress as a keeper. There is no 'proper' way to teach yourself the Latin name of lots of different species and be able to identify them, it's just something you learn as you become more experienced and/or read more.
Edit: oh yer, and the first start is to only use the Latin names for the scorpions you own, forget their common names. Common names are very often inaccurate anyway lol. Say if you own an emperor scorpion, call it a Pandinus imperator, or P. imperator, rather than its common name, so you start to get the hang of it.
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- Joined
- May 23, 2011
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- 1,032
I am backing up Callum here...it is just like learning a new language (such as Latin) although there are no grammar rules etc. that need to be followed. About common names, they are indeed inaccurate and can be very confusing and rather dangerous. The latin name is the proper label for the scorpion anyway.
I would do exactly as Callum suggested, research using the species names and learn them by looking at pictures, etc. It is really not as difficult as you may think...
I would do exactly as Callum suggested, research using the species names and learn them by looking at pictures, etc. It is really not as difficult as you may think...
- Joined
- Dec 19, 2006
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- 198
in a week or two you'll be spitting Latin names, just read some older posts and you'll get a hang of it. And true, common names can be misleading sometimes.
mike
mike