While at the zoo the other day, I noticed that the animal names on the English/Spanish bilingual signage sometimes had names that were vastly different.
I undestand that every animal that is “discovered” is given a two word latin scientific name by the first scientists who decide to give it a name. I assume that name is probably sent to some registry somewhere.
But what about common names? For example, at the zoo I saw an aardwolf. The Spanish name for it is something totally different (something like “hyena de la” something). A little research showed that it comes from the Afrikaans aarde wulf, which is kinda similar. I also saw a “brushbuck” (from the Afrikaans “Busbok”) or as the Spanish and the French like to call it a “Guib.”
What gives? is there someone in Washington, Barcelona, or Paris who springs into action and names an animal in their language everytime a new animal is discovered? Sounds like a cool job.
For the record, a springbok is called a springbok in English, Spanish, German, and French.
No, nobody keeps an official list of what the local or common name for any animal or plant is. It’s just the name that has developed in a particular locality and may not even be the same from one part of a country to another let alone one language to another.
I should imagine that the local names predate the official latin scientific name in places where the animal in question was already known before scientists came and started telling everyone what to call things.
Note that even in English different animals have been given separate names by people living in different regions: lightning bug vs firefly; dragonfly vs mosquito hawk vs devil’s darning needle; mountain lion vs puma vs catamount vs panther vs cougar. The Alces alces is called elk (in English) in Eurasia, but moose in North America. On the other hand, North Americans use the word elk to identify Cervus elaphus, which is also called wapiti (in North America) and red deer (in Europe) to avoid the confusion surrounding the word elk.
Thank you for your answers. I understand that there are going to be different names in different regions for the same animal. I imagine that these differences occur naturally over time about animals that that culture may have or had contact with or, know about through literature or art. For example, there are regional names for crayfish. I have seen crayfish with my own eyes and I have seen them on TV and in books. A childhood friend showed me how to use them as bait. The other day my daughter asked me if I have ever eaten crawfish. I don’t remember ever seeing an aardwolf, and it has never come up in natural conversation, so it would be tough for an english or regional name to develop.
I am talking more about animals that were recently discovered or ones in which the culture has no contact with or little or no initial knowledge of. Someone, somewhere has to be the first to do the translation for an animal that no one knows about. Thanks again.
Around here, everyone I know properly calls elk elk, and moose moose (meese? :p) and we know a deer when we see one. On top of that, all despite the fact we live in the middle of the prarie region of Canada, where the closest moose and elk are about 300-500Km to the north of my current location just a few hundred kilometres north of the American border.
Scientists generally only give a newly discovered animal or plant a Latin name. In some cases of larger or more familiar animals, such as birds or mammals, the original paper may suggest a name in English, and perhaps a name in a local language where the animal occurs. But this is not required, and is often omitted.
For some groups, such as birds, organizations such as the American Ornithologists’ Union decide on “official” English names. However, these only apply to the region over which that organization has jurisdiction. The “official” English names of many birds are different in the U.S. and the UK, because the British Ornithologists’ Union has approved others. And the English names may differ in Africa and Australia as well. English names for birds are gradually becoming more consistent throughout the world, but the process still has a long way to go.
There are similar organizations that provide lists of approved bird names in other languages such as French and Spanish, but this is probably even less unified than in English. It will be a long time before all the Latin American countries accept the Spanish names proposed by ornithologists in Spain.
Names are even less ‘official’ for mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Look at different field guides for mammals in North America, and you will see different names for the same species, especially the smaller ones like rodents. The vast majority of insects and plants have no common names.
Obscure animals, such as small nondescript frogs in the tropics, really can’t be said to have recognized common name. If someone wants to write about it, and doesn’t want to use the Latin name, they usually end up making one up on the spot.
The recently discovered antelope-like mammal Pseudoryx nghetinhensis is a case in point. At present it is generally called saola (or sao la) from the native name, but is also sometimes referred to as the “Vu Quang Ox,” which might be considered its English name - even though it is a misnomer, as it is not an ox.
This is why we have scientific names - because common names are inherently confusing.