In biology , a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name , English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism, which is often based in Latin . A common name is sometimes frequently used, but that is not always the case.
57-820: The yacare caiman ( Caiman yacare ), also known commonly as the jacare caiman , Paraguayan caiman , piranha caiman , red caiman , and southern spectacled caiman , is a species of caiman , a crocodilian in the family Alligatoridae . The species is endemic to Argentina , Bolivia , Brazil , and Paraguay . Brown in color and covered with dark blotches, males grow to a total length (including tail) of 2–3 m (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) and weigh around 40–50 kg (88–110 lb); while females grow to 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) long and about 15–20 kg (33–44 lb). Typical habitats of this caiman include lakes, rivers, and wetlands. Its diet primarily consists of aquatic animals, such as snails, and occasionally land vertebrates. Mating occurs in
114-769: A flora of his homeland Sweden, Flora Svecica (1745), and in this, he recorded the Swedish common names, region by region, as well as the scientific names. The Swedish common names were all binomials (e.g. plant no. 84 Råg-losta and plant no. 85 Ren-losta); the vernacular binomial system thus preceded his scientific binomial system. Linnaean authority William T. Stearn said: By the introduction of his binomial system of nomenclature, Linnaeus gave plants and animals an essentially Latin nomenclature like vernacular nomenclature in style but linked to published, and hence relatively stable and verifiable, scientific concepts and thus suitable for international use. The geographic range over which
171-469: A chemical, does not follow the current systematic naming convention, such as acetone , systematically 2-propanone , while a vernacular name describes one used in a lab, trade or industry that does not unambiguously describe a single chemical, such as copper sulfate , which may refer to either copper(I) sulfate or copper(II) sulfate. Sometimes common names are created by authorities on one particular subject, in an attempt to make it possible for members of
228-624: A mound shape using mud and rotting vegetation. The species can lay as many as 44 eggs, but it most commonly lays 22–35, with the exact number often depending on the habitat type. It often exhibits multiple paternity, more so than several other crocodilian species. Females usually protect nests during incubation, but do so less when the human hunting pressure is high, ultimately causing a lower hatching success rate. Eggs hatch in March. Young exhibit precociality , receiving very little help from their parents and having to care for themselves. They hide in grasses in
285-485: A particularly common name is used varies; some common names have a very local application, while others are virtually universal within a particular language. Some such names even apply across ranges of languages; the word for cat , for instance, is easily recognizable in most Germanic and many Romance languages . Many vernacular names, however, are restricted to a single country and colloquial names to local districts. Some languages also have more than one common name for
342-465: A significant increase in its population, with about 10 million specimens living in the Pantanal alone as of 2013. Current threats of the yacare caiman include deforestation, tourism, construction of dams and seaports, and illegal hunting. The species reproduces quickly, which makes it less susceptible to hunting pressure. The IUCN Red List designated the yacare caiman a species of least concern in 1996. It
399-427: Is a keystone species in Pantanal's ecosystem. When the wetlands are flooded once a year, the grass and other plants will eventually die and start to decay. During this process, decomposing microbes deplete the shallow water of all oxygen, suffocating larger decomposers. Unlike other decomposing animals, the apple snails have both gills and lungs, making it possible for them to thrive in anoxic waters where they recycle
456-607: Is a medium-sized caiman, brown in color. Male specimens grow to 2–3 m (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) in total length (including tail) and up to 58 kg (128 lb) in weight. Females are much smaller, with an adult total length of 1.4 m (4 ft 7 in) and weight of 14–23 kg (31–51 lb). The average snout–vent length (SVL) of hatchlings is 12.49 cm (4.92 in) for females and 12.84 cm (5.06 in) for males. National Geographic has described young individuals as "look(ing) like nothing more than tiny, windblown seeds floating amid
513-555: Is a mixture of plant communities typical of a variety of surrounding biome regions: these include moist tropical Amazonian rainforest plants, semiarid woodland plants typical of northeast Brazil, Brazilian cerrado savanna plants, and plants of the Chaco savannas of Bolivia and Paraguay. Forests usually occur at higher altitudes of the region, while grasslands cover the seasonally inundated areas. The key limiting factors for growth are inundation and, even more importantly, water-stress during
570-461: Is in these remarks from a book on marine fish: In scientific binomial nomenclature, names commonly are derived from classical or modern Latin or Greek or Latinised forms of vernacular words or coinages; such names generally are difficult for laymen to learn, remember, and pronounce and so, in such books as field guides, biologists commonly publish lists of coined common names. Many examples of such common names simply are attempts to translate
627-583: Is listed as threatened by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as of June 5, 2000, after having been listed as endangered since June 2, 1970. As of 2010, it is listed as an Appendix II species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Common name In chemistry , IUPAC defines a common name as one that, although it unambiguously defines
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#1732868622874684-739: Is located in the municipality of Poconé in the State of Mato Grosso, between the mouths of the Baía de São Marcos and the Gurupi Rivers . The park was designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention on May 24, 1993. The SESC Pantanal Private Natural Heritage Reserve ( Reserva Particular do Patrimonio Natural SESC Pantanal ) is a privately owned reserve in Brazil, established in 1998 and 878.7 km (339.3 sq mi) in size. It
741-527: Is located in the north-eastern portion, known as "Poconé" Pantanal, not far from the Pantanal National Park. It is a mix of permanent rivers, seasonal streams, permanent and seasonal floodplain freshwater lakes, shrub-dominated wetlands and seasonally flooded forests, all dedicated to nature preservation, and was designated a Ramsar Site of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention . Otuquis National Park and Integrated Management Natural Area
798-815: Is sometimes considered a subspecies of the spectacled caiman ( Caiman crocodilus ), which would make its scientific name Caiman crocodilus yacare . These two species are the same morphologically , but are considered separate species due to their geographical differences. Its relationship to the spectacled caiman and the other extant caimans can be shown in the cladogram below, based on molecular DNA-based phylogenetic studies: Paleosuchus palpebrosus Cuvier's dwarf caiman Paleosuchus trigonatus Schneider's dwarf caiman Caiman crocodilus Spectacled caiman Caiman yacare Yacare caiman Caiman latirostris Broad-snouted caiman Melanosuchus niger Black caiman Alligator sinensis Chinese alligator Alligator mississippiensis American alligator C. yacare
855-650: Is the Cape dikkop (or "gewone dikkop", not to mention the presumably much older Zulu name "umBangaqhwa"); Burhinus vermiculatus is the "water dikkop". The thick joints in question are not even, in fact, the birds' knees, but the intertarsal joints —in lay terms the ankles. Furthermore, not all species in the genus have "thick knees", so the thickness of the "knees" of some species is not of clearly descriptive significance. The family Burhinidae has members that have various common names even in English, including " stone curlews ", so
912-541: The Broad-snouted caiman ( Caiman latirostris ). There are also several extinct fossil species in the genus Caiman , possibly up to eight species. The yacare caiman is a member of the caiman subfamily Caimaninae , and is one of six living species of caiman. As of 2010, the exact relationship between the yacare caiman and related species is unclear and complicated. There have been attempts to analyze this relationship, but these have not produced definite conclusions. It
969-515: The ICZN has formal rules for biological nomenclature and convenes periodic international meetings to further that purpose. The form of scientific names for organisms, called binomial nomenclature , is superficially similar to the noun-adjective form of vernacular names or common names which were used by non-modern cultures. A collective name such as owl was made more precise by the addition of an adjective such as screech . Linnaeus himself published
1026-571: The IUCN Red List . François Marie Daudin originally described the yacare caiman in 1802 as Crocodilus yacare . Its specific name , yacare , comes from the word jacaré , which means "alligator" in Old Tupi and then assimilated into Portuguese. The yacare caiman is one of three extant (living) species of the genus Caiman , the other two being the Spectacled caiman ( Caiman crocodilus ) and
1083-594: The giant anteater ( Myrmecophaga tridactyla ). Common species in the Pantanal include the capybara ( Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris ), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) , and the yacare caiman ( Caiman yacare ). According to 1996 data, there were 10 million caimans in the Pantanal, making it the highest concentration of crocodilians in the world. The Pantanal is home to one of the largest and healthiest jaguar ( Panthera onca ) populations on Earth. There are thirteen species of herons and egrets , six species of ibises and spoonbills , and five species of kingfishers that use
1140-477: The giant river otter ( Pteronura brasiliensis ). Parts of the Pantanal are also home to the following endangered or threatened species: the hyacinth macaw ( Anodorhyncus hyacinthinus ) (a bird endangered due to smuggling), the crowned solitary eagle ( Buteogallus coronatus ), the maned wolf ( Chrysocyon brachyurus ), the bush dog ( Speothos venaticus ), the South American tapir ( Tapirus terrestris ), and
1197-557: The Hebrew Language publish from time to time short dictionaries of common name in Hebrew for species that occur in Israel or surrounding countries e.g. for Reptilia in 1938, Osteichthyes in 2012, and Odonata in 2015. Pantanal The Pantanal ( Portuguese pronunciation: [pɐ̃taˈnaw] ) is a natural region encompassing the world's largest tropical wetland area, and
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#17328686228741254-690: The Pantanal as a breeding and feeding ground. There are nineteen species of parrots documented in the Pantanal, including five species of macaws . Some migratory birds include the American golden plover , peregrine falcon , and the bobolink . Most fish are detritivores , primarily ingesting fine particles from sediments and plant surfaces. This is characteristic of fish living in South American flood-plains in general. Fish migration between river channels and flood-plain regions occurs seasonally. These fish have many adaptations that allow them to survive in
1311-577: The Pantanal floodplains are submerged during the rainy seasons, nurturing a biologically diverse collection of aquatic plants and helping to support a dense array of animal species. The name "Pantanal" comes from the Portuguese word pântano that means "swamp", "wetland", "bog", "quagmire", or "marsh" plus the suffix -al , that means "abundance, agglomeration, collection". The Pantanal covers about 140,000–160,000 km (54,000–62,000 sq mi) of gently-sloped basin that receives runoff from
1368-683: The SSAR switched to an online version with a searchable database. Standardized names for the amphibians and reptiles of Mexico in Spanish and English were first published in 1994, with a revised and updated list published in 2008. A set of guidelines for the creation of English names for birds was published in The Auk in 1978. It gave rise to Birds of the World: Recommended English Names and its Spanish and French companions. The Academy of
1425-524: The Secretariat for the AFNC. SSA is an accredited Standards Australia (Australia's peak non-government standards development organisation) Standards Development The Entomological Society of America maintains a database of official common names of insects, and proposals for new entries must be submitted and reviewed by a formal committee before being added to the listing. Efforts to standardize English names for
1482-501: The amphibians and reptiles of North America (north of Mexico) began in the mid-1950s. The dynamic nature of taxonomy necessitates periodical updates and changes in the nomenclature of both scientific and common names. The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) published an updated list in 1978, largely following the previous established examples, and subsequently published eight revised editions ending in 2017. More recently
1539-509: The author introduced into it so many new English names, that are to be found in no dictionary, and that do not preclude the necessity of learning with what Latin names they are synonymous. A tolerable idea may be given of the danger of too great a multiplicity of vulgar names, by imagining what geography would be, or, for instance, the Post-office administration, supposing every town had a totally different name in every language. Various bodies and
1596-493: The authors of many technical and semi-technical books do not simply adapt existing common names for various organisms; they try to coin (and put into common use) comprehensive, useful, authoritative, and standardised lists of new names. The purpose typically is: Other attempts to reconcile differences between widely separated regions, traditions, and languages, by arbitrarily imposing nomenclature, often reflect narrow perspectives and have unfortunate outcomes. For example, members of
1653-560: The body; most noticeably, its lower jaw is covered with three to five blotches. It has a smooth snout, which is medium in length and broad. It has lumps on its eyelids and a curved ridge between its eyes. It has osteoderms on its scales, a feature also present in the spectacled caiman. It has an average of 74 teeth, with 5 pre-maxillary, 14–15 maxillary, and 17–21 mandibular. Some of the teeth on its lower jaw can poke through holes in its upper jaw. This feature makes its teeth more prominent and has been compared to piranhas , which has established
1710-408: The choice of the name "thick-knees" is not easy to defend but is a clear illustration of the hazards of the facile coinage of terminology. For collective nouns for various subjects, see a list of collective nouns (e.g. a flock of sheep, pack of wolves). Some organizations have created official lists of common names, or guidelines for creating common names, hoping to standardize
1767-561: The common name "piranha caiman". The yacare caiman is ecologically similar to the spectacled caiman. It lives in semi-aquatic habitats, including lakes, rivers, and wetlands, but is able to adapt to a variety of habitats. Individuals sometimes move to different locations in groups if their habitat is disturbed. The species' diet consists of aquatic animals, such as snails and fish, and occasionally snakes. It has also been known to eat capybaras . When hunting for snails, this caiman looks within vegetation floating in water and uses its jaws to break
Yacare caiman - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-481: The daytime, as herons and storks can eat young caimans. Females become sexually mature at age 10–15. Similar species of the yacare caiman live to about age 50, which has been used as an estimate for this caiman's lifespan, but its exact lifespan is unknown. The range of the yacare caiman includes Argentina (north), Bolivia, Brazil (south), and Paraguay. It is one of three species of genus Caiman in South America,
1881-466: The dry season. According to Embrapa , approximately 2,000 different plants have been identified in the Pantanal biome and classified according to their potential, with some presenting significant medicinal promise. The Pantanal ecosystem is home to some 463 species of birds, 269 species of fishes, more than 236 species of mammals, 141 species of reptiles and amphibians, and over 9,000 subspecies of invertebrates. The apple snail ( Pomacea lineata )
1938-464: The general public (including such interested parties as fishermen, farmers, etc.) to be able to refer to one particular species of organism without needing to be able to memorise or pronounce the scientific name. Creating an "official" list of common names can also be an attempt to standardize the use of common names, which can sometimes vary a great deal between one part of a country and another, as well as between one country and another country, even where
1995-517: The genus Burhinus occur in Australia, Southern Africa, Eurasia, and South America. A recent trend in field manuals and bird lists is to use the name " thick-knee " for members of the genus. This, in spite of the fact that the majority of the species occur in non-English-speaking regions and have various common names, not always English. For example, "Dikkop" is the centuries-old South African vernacular name for their two local species: Burhinus capensis
2052-587: The large depression area of the Pantanal. This area is also one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger Parana-Paraguay Plain area, which encompasses a total of 1.5 × 10 ^ km (580,000 sq mi). The Pantanal is bounded by the Chiquitano dry forests to the west and northwest, by the Arid Chaco dry forests to the southwest, and the Humid Chaco to the south. The Cerrado savannas lie to
2109-706: The modern (now binding) International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants contains the following: Art. 68. Every friend of science ought to be opposed to the introduction into a modern language of names of plants that are not already there unless they are derived from a Latin botanical name that has undergone but a slight alteration. ... ought the fabrication of names termed vulgar names, totally different from Latin ones, to be proscribed. The public to whom they are addressed derives no advantage from them because they are novelties. Lindley's work, The Vegetable Kingdom, would have been better relished in England had not
2166-404: The north, east, and southeast. The Pantanal is a tropical wet and dry region with an average annual temperature of 24 °C (75 °F) and rainfall between 1,000 and 1,250 millimetres (39 and 49 in) per year. Extreme temperatures can reach a high of 41 °C (106 °F) or drop to −1 °C (30 °F). Throughout the year, temperature varies about 6.0 °C (10.8 °F) with
2223-430: The nutrients. To get oxygen, they extend a long snorkel to the water surface, pumping air into their lungs. This ability allows them to consume all the dead plant matter and turn it into nutritious fertilizer available for the plants in the area. The snails themselves are also food for a variety of animals. Among the rarest animals to inhabit the wetland of the Pantanal are the marsh deer ( Blastocerus dichotomus ) and
2280-445: The others being the broad-snouted caiman ( C. latirostris ) and the spectacled caiman ( C. crocodilus ), with more easterly and northerly ranges, respectively. The yacare caiman is one of the most common species on its continent. In the 1980s, the species was "heading for oblivion" due to frequently being hunted for its skin; hunters often went to water holes containing many yacare caimans and shot large numbers of them. They utilized
2337-453: The oxygen-depleted flood-plain waters. In addition to the caiman , some of the reptiles that inhabit the Pantanal are the yellow anaconda ( Eunectes notaeus ), the gold tegu ( Tupinambis teguixin ), the red-footed tortoise ( Geochelone carbonaria ), and the green iguana ( Iguana iguana ). The Pantanal region includes essential sanctuaries for migratory birds, critical nursery grounds for aquatic life, and refuges for such creatures as
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2394-462: The rainy season and eggs hatch in March, with young fending for themselves as soon as they hatch. The yacare caiman was hunted heavily for its skin to use for leather in the 1980s, which caused its population to decrease significantly. However, trading restrictions placed since have caused its population to increase. Its population in the Pantanal is about 10 million, and it is listed as least concern on
2451-484: The rushes at the edge of a lagoon in Brazil's remote interior." Based on a study of the growth of multiple specimens in the Pantanal from 1987 to 2013, both sexes are about 50 cm (20 in) SVL at age five. By age 15, they have mostly finished growth, with females being about 80 cm (31 in) SVL and males over 100 cm (39 in) SVL. The study also showed that individuals have significant variation in their growth rates. Dark marks are distributed across
2508-484: The same animal. For example, in Irish, there are many terms that are considered outdated but still well-known for their somewhat humorous and poetic descriptions of animals. w/ literal translations of the poetic terms Common names are used in the writings of both professionals and laymen . Lay people sometimes object to the use of scientific names over common names, but the use of scientific names can be defended, as it
2565-576: The same language is spoken in both places. A common name intrinsically plays a part in a classification of objects, typically an incomplete and informal classification, in which some names are degenerate examples in that they are unique and lack reference to any other name, as is the case with say, ginkgo , okapi , and ratel . Folk taxonomy , which is a classification of objects using common names, has no formal rules and need not be consistent or logical in its assignment of names, so that say, not all flies are called flies (for example Braulidae ,
2622-402: The scientific name into English or some other vernacular. Such translation may be confusing in itself, or confusingly inaccurate, for example, gratiosus does not mean "gracile" and gracilis does not mean "graceful". The practice of coining common names has long been discouraged; de Candolle's Laws of Botanical Nomenclature , 1868, the non-binding recommendations that form the basis of
2679-518: The shells of the snails. In July 1986, the stomach of a specimen in Bolivia was observed to be full of mud, along with small parts of eggshells that likely belonged to a caiman. In general, crocodilians can eat the eggshells of their own young subsequent to the young hatching. Breeding usually occurs in December–February, in the middle of the rainy season. Nests are constructed by the females, built in
2736-434: The skin for leather and left the other parts of the carcasses at the water holes. Although the species is covered with bony osteoderms , which had previously made it uncommon to be hunted for leather, it has some less bony spots which can be used for leather. This practice caused the caiman's population to drop by the millions. In 1992, a ban was issued in Brazil that prohibited the trading of crocodilian skins. This resulted in
2793-407: The so-called "bee lice") and not every animal called a fly is indeed a fly (such as dragonflies and mayflies ). In contrast, scientific or biological nomenclature is a global system that attempts to denote particular organisms or taxa uniquely and definitively , on the assumption that such organisms or taxa are well-defined and generally also have well-defined interrelationships; accordingly
2850-713: The upland areas (the Planalto highlands ) and slowly releases the water through the Paraguay River and tributaries . The formation is a result of the large, concave, pre-Andean depression of the Earth's crust, related to the Andean orogeny of the Tertiary . It constitutes an enormous internal river delta , in which several rivers flowing from the surrounding plateau merge, depositing their sediments and erosion residues, which have been filling
2907-800: The use of common names. For example, the Australian Fish Names List or AFNS was compiled through a process involving work by taxonomic and seafood industry experts, drafted using the CAAB (Codes for Australian Aquatic Biota) taxon management system of the CSIRO , and including input through public and industry consultations by the Australian Fish Names Committee (AFNC). The AFNS has been an official Australian Standard since July 2007 and has existed in draft form (The Australian Fish Names List) since 2001. Seafood Services Australia (SSA) serve as
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#17328686228742964-511: The warmest month being November (with an average temperature of 26 °C or 79 °F) and the coldest month being June (with an average temperature of 20 °C or 68 °F). Its wettest month is January (with an average of 340 mm or 13 in) and its driest is June (with an average of 3 mm or 0.12 in). Floodplain ecosystems such as the Pantanal are defined by their seasonal inundation and desiccation . They shift between phases of standing water and phases of dry soil, when
3021-478: The water table can be well below the root region. Soils range from high levels of sand in higher areas to higher amounts of clay and silt in riverine areas. Elevation of the Pantanal ranges from 80 to 150 m (260 to 490 ft) above sea level. Annual rainfall over the flood basin is between 1,000 and 1,500 mm (39 and 59 in), with most rainfall occurring between November and March. Annual average precipitation ranged from 920 to 1,540 mm in
3078-419: The waters become oxygen-depleted, rendering the water environs anoxic . Many natural fish kills can occur if there are no oxygenated water refuges available. The reason for this remains speculative: it may be due to the growth of toxin -producing bacteria in the deoxygenated water rather than as a direct result of lack of oxygen. The vegetation of the Pantanal, often referred to as the "Pantanal complex ",
3135-533: The world's largest flooded grasslands . It is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul , but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay . It sprawls over an area estimated at between 140,000 and 195,000 km (54,000 and 75,000 sq mi). Various subregional ecosystems exist, each with distinct hydrological , geological , and ecological characteristics; up to 12 of them have been defined. Roughly 80% of
3192-573: The yacare caiman, deer, and Pantanal jaguar . Most species are not under threat due to the low deforestation rates (less than 17%) of native vegetation now in the area due to new regulations. Some of the causes which threaten the Pantanal ecosystems are: A portion of the Pantanal in Brazil has been protected as the Pantanal Matogrossense National Park . This 1,350 km (520 sq mi) park, established in September 1981,
3249-431: The years 1968-2000. In the Paraguay River portion of the Pantanal, water levels rise between two meters to five meters seasonally; water fluctuations in other parts of the Pantanal are less than this. Flood waters tend to flow slowly (2 to 10 cm (0.79 to 3.94 in) per second ) due to the low gradients and high resistance offered by the dense vegetation. When rising river waters first contact previously dry soil,
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