- Why is it important that we have one universal system for naming animals and plants?

Transcription

1 - Why do we need only one scientific name for every plant and animal? A long time ago people referred to all animals or plants by their common name e.g. cat, dog, horse or by their native language e.g. kowhai, ngaio, pohutukawa. New Zealand's native plants and animals have in the main three names. A name given by Maori, a european name and the scientific name (or binomial classification or the Genus and species name). A common example is Rimu, its Maori name, Red Pine is the european name and its scientific classification is Dacrydium cupressinum. But there were problems with this as one culture could give an animal or plant a name and another culture could give the same animal or plant a different name. Many cultures would not have the faintest idea what tree or animal you were referring if you used your native language. This caused considerable confusion. In the 18 th century Carl von Linne wrote a book in which he classified animals using the two languages that all scholars spoke throughout the world Latin and Greek. No matter which country you were in everyone could recognize what animal or plant you were talking about. Among other things, this system would make it easier to study plants and animals. His system gave each animal or plant two names (just like people have a first name and a surname) 1. Genus (family name) 2. Species (name) - Why is it important that we have one universal system for naming animals and plants? Obviously a universal system avoids any confusion. At a practical level it means that we can accurately state the population of a particular animal or plant. If we can do that then we can monitor their numbers and determine if they are becoming threatened or endangered.

2 - Scientific grouping of plants and animals All the plants and animals have been further scientifically grouped into larger and larger groups or phyla (scientific groups). Here is a brief summary Kingdom: Most textbooks now list 6 kingdoms -- animal, plant, protists (amoebas and such), fungi, bacteria, and archaebacteria (also called extremophiles). Phylum: There are more than 30 phyla in the Animal Kingdom and 9 or 10 in the Plant Kingdom. Phylum Chordata is the one we're most familiar with vertebrates! (that is what we are). Class: The various phyla are divided into classes -- Phylum Chordata is divided into the classes: amphibians, birds, mammals, reptiles and fish. Order: A grouping of families. Some are straight forward e.g. Carnivora include all carnivores. Family: The family is a relatively new scientific concept. It is a way scientists group similar genuses together. Genus: Two or more species that share unique body structures or other characteristics are considered to be closely related and are placed together in a genus e.g. Ferrets and stoats are different species that are closely related and placed in the same genus (Mustelids). Species: A species can be defined as a group of individuals that breed together to produce fertile offspring. For example, stoats and ferrets are from the genus Mustelid but they only breed with there own species. How do we remember the order of scientific grouping? King Phillip, Come Out For Goodness Sake! Animal example Stoats, ferrets and weasels illustrate nicely how the family and name system works. They are all classified as Mustelids, the Latin word for weasel But each of them has a different name, just like everyone in a family shares the same surname but has a different first name. Ferret = Mustela furo Stoat = Mustelo erminea Weasel = Mustelo nivalis A close look into the Mustela family shows us that they include otters, wolverines and badgers!

3 Plant example Plants are especially cool how they get their names. Often the family name or Genus is after the person who discovered it (Fuchsia is actually the name of a German Botanist!) The species name usually describes any special feature they might have. What maori refer to as the hinau has the scientific name Elaeocarpus dentatus. - Elaia = olive - Karpus = fruit - Dentis = tooth (as in a dentist) And it just so happens that the hinau has olive fruit and has leaves with lots of teeth around outside! The very informative website has many examples of how New Zealand plants have been named. This site is absolutely fantastic and a must for any study of New Zealand plants. ( ) The latest versions of Andrew Crowe s (ecological edition) What Native tree?: New Ecology Edition And Which Native forest plant? New Ecology Edition give fascinating insights into how the Maori names of plants were derived. Bird example A close look at the scientific names of birds helps you discover which birds are related. - robin (or toutouwai) Petroica macrocephala - tomtit (or miromiro) Petroica australis are from the same family Petroica. They are closely related and share many similar characteristics eg they are both pounce feeders meaning they perch on a log and pounce on any small creature on the ground that moves. Knowing they were closely related and shared such a similar diet helped save the black robin on the Chatham Islands as the tomtits acted as foster parents for the black robin chicks after attempts using the grey warbler (riroriro) Gerygone igata failed because they fed the robin chicks food they weren t used to (If you haven t read Old Blue. The Rarest Bird in the World. By Mary Taylor you must!!!! It s a fantastic children s picture book about saving the rarest bird in the world).

4 Insect example The word insect comes from the latin name insectum which means notched which refers to the insects divided or indented body (head/ thorax/ abdomen). The prickly stick insect (Maori name ro ) latin name Acanthoxyla prasina belongs to the order Phasmotodea which means ghost like. This is due to its amazing ability to camouflage on plants. Activities 1. Looking at the scientific naming of New Zealand plants. Go through many of the native New Zealand plants and try to work out how their scientific names were derived. Start by finding New Zealand plants at Then using books and websites try to find the English translation for the Greek or Latin. There is a site for you to be able to translate Latin and Greek words into English. Specifically it s housed at For example look at Kawakawa Macropiper excelsum Macropiper = great pepper / from the Greek macros (large) peperi (pepper) Excelsum = tall, eminent / from Latin excellere (to rise, be superior) It is a big pepper plant (eat it, it s safe, and you will discover just how peppery it is!) 2. Research how Maori names are derived. The following website gives a very good insight into how several endemic New Zealand birds got their Maori name 3. Webquest There is a very good webquest that focuses on vertebrate animals and the five classes of animals that belong to the vertebrate phylum (group). It contains vast number of website links that can be used by students and teachers alike. As with any webquest links come and go but on the whole the links were well researched and vetted when it was posted.

5 4. Invent a Creature! Using the list of words provided in the chart below invent your own animal using Greek and Latin root words. I have included the latin names of some insect orders and New Zealand examples of them because they are really interesting! For example : kolossosgastrosbindentismareequus Is my name for the giant bellied two toothed sea horse! What would be the common name for Lineatio similus tigris? What about Micro tri cephalo bi ped? - Get students to try to translate into english each others invented animal. - Draw a picture of the invented animal then challenge each other to name the animal.

6 Greek Latin Root word Root word Cephalo Head Bin Two Micros Small Corpus Body Hydra Water Dentis Tooth Monos One Equus Horse Bios Life Fortis Strong Gastros Belly Gravis Heavy Derma Skin Magnus Large Elastos Flexible Mal Bad Hepta Seven Mare Sea Kolossos Giant Minimus Smallest Hecton Hundred Mare Sea Okto Eight Multis Many Opthalmus Eye Nox Night Penta Fire Ped Foot Polys Many Similus Like Opticos Sight Terra Earth Zoon Living thing Aqua Water Phobos Fear Lineatio lined Insect Order Odonata Toothed flies Blattodea Avoiding light Isoptera Equal Mantoodea Prophetlike Dermaptera Leather Hymenoptera Membrane New Zealand Example Insect Order New Zealand Example Dragonfly Orthoptera Straight Weta Cockroach Phasmatodea Ghost-like Stick Insect Termite Hemiptera Half Cicada Prey mantis Coleoptera Hard Earwig Siphonaptera Wingless tubes Bee Lepidoptera Scaly Beetles Fleas Butterfly