The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians

Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins, Bo Beolens

Description

New species of animal and plant are being discovered all the time. When this happens, the new species has to be given a scientific, Latin name in addition to any common, vernacular name. In either case the species may be named after a person, often the discoverer but sometimes an individual they wished to honour or perhaps were staying with at the time the discovery was made. Species names related to a person are ‘eponyms’. Many scientific names are allusive, esoteric and even humorous, so an eponym dictionary is a valuable resource for anyone, amateur or professional, who wants to decipher the meaning and glimpse the history of a species name.

Sometimes a name refers not to a person but to a fictional character or mythological figure. The Forest Stubfoot Toad Atelopus farci is named after the FARC, a Colombian guerrilla army who found refuge in the toad’s habitat and thereby, it is claimed, protected it. Hoipollo's Bubble-nest Frog Pseudophilautus hoipolloi was named after the Greek for ‘the many’, but someone assumed the reference was to a Dr Hoipollo. Meanwhile, the man who has everything will never refuse an eponym: Sting's Treefrog Dendropsophus stingi is named after the rock musician, in honour of his ‘commitment and efforts to save the rainforest’.

Following the success of their Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles, the authors have joined forces to give amphibians a similar treatment. They have tracked down 1,609 honoured individuals and composed for each a brief, pithy biography. In some cases these are a reminder of the courage of scientists whose dedicated research in remote locations exposed them to disease and even violent death. The eponym ensures that their memory will survive, aided by reference works such as this highly readable dictionary. Altogether 2,668 amphibians are listed. 

Sujets

• Zoologie
• Science
• 454 Life Sciences
• General
• Animals
• Amphibian
• Dictionary
• Taxonomy
• Zoology
• General officer
• Biology
• Sciences et techniques
• Amphibians
• Dictionaries
• Life Sciences

Informations

• Publié par: Pelagic Publishing
• Date de parution: 22 avril 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781907807442
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians

1. Green Toad (Bufo viridis).Widespread throughout Continental Europe and Middle East.2.Island Siberut Frog (Rana siberu). Indonesia.3.Tomato Frog (Dyscophus antongilii). Madagascar.4.Dyeing Poison Arrow Frog (Dendrobates tinctorius[formerlyDendrobates azureus]). Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname.5.Panamanian Golden Frog (Atelopus zeteki). Panama.6.Flying Frog ( Reinwardt’s Rhacophorus reinwardtii). Indonesia, Malaysia.7.Leaf Frog ( Eyelash Ceratobatrachus guentheri) Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands.8. Golden Toad (Bufo periglenes). Costa Rica.9.Northern Gastric Brooding Frog (Rheobatrachus vitellinus). Australia.10. The Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree). Australia.11.Nyctibatrachus minimus. India.12.Ornate Horned Frog (Ceratophrys ornata). Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay.13.Frog ( Goliath Conraua goliath). Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea.

The closed drawers in the painting represent all the frog species not yet discovered, and those who might die out before becoming known to us.

The Eponym Dictionary o Amphibians

Bo Beolens | Michael Watkins | Michael Grayson

Published byPelagic Publishing www.pelagicpublishing.com PO Box 725, Exeter, EX1 9QU

The Eponym Dictionary of Amphibians

ISBN 978-1-907807-41-1 (Hbk) ISBN 978-1-907807-42-8 (ePub) ISBN 978-1-907807-44-2 (Pdf) ISBN 978-1-907807-43-5 (Mobi)

Copyright © 2013 Bo Beolens, Michael Watkins and Michael Grayson

All rights reserved. No part of this document may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.

While every eort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Pelagic Publishing, its agents and distributors will be held liable for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover imageFrog Cabinet© Madeline von Foerster www.madelinevonfoerster.com

For Julia Summers & Andy Bryson Bo Beolens

For Sebastian, Madeleine and Christie Mike Watkins

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

thE epONyM DicTiONaRy Of AMphibiaNS

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Bibliography

ix xi

1 15 36 50 62 68 75 88 101 103 109 118 132 152 157 161 174 175 187 211

219 220 226 237 238 240

243

ACknowleDgements

any people have contributed useful bits of M information and most of them are people who have an animal named after them and so appear in the book. However a number of other people have been very generous with their time and help and we wish to acknowledge them separately:

Alan Channing, University of the Western Cape, Belville, South Africa

Dr Frank Glaw, Zoologische Staatssammlung, München

Florence Gree, Conservateur des Archives, Académie des Sciences-Institut de France

Professor Dr Ismail Karaboz, Head of Biology Department, Science Faculty, Ege University, Turkey

Dr Edgar Lehr

Professor Dr Annemarie Ohler, Curator of Reptiles and Amphibians, and Scientiîc Manager of Vertebrate Collections, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris

Thiago Ribero de Carvalho Tavares, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil