Edentates are found in every country of the Western Hemisphere except Canada and the smaller Caribbean islands. This panoramic distribution has brought them into contact with a profusion of languages, and some widespread species have been known by many dozens or hundreds of indigenous names. The ascent of European languages to continental dominance has given rise to many more — some of them adaptations of prior native terms, and others entirely new.
Two of these latecomer tongues, Spanish and Portuguese, overlay virtually the entire range of the edentate order, and together they encompass more local and regional variants than any other extant language. Spanish common names in particular are myriad, diverse and frequently confusing; the suite of terms in one country may be entirely distinct from another — and the same name may be used for different species in several different areas. This is not to say that pandemonium reigns: experienced researchers know the terrain, and field biologists are familiar with the local names where they work. But for those searching through reports or making comparisons from afar — or those who are simply new to the field — aligning the common and Latin names may take a great deal of paging through far-flung references.
We have done some paging ourselves, and here we share the results of our efforts: a compilation of the established common names in the major languages of Neotropical science, together with as broad a selection of current local names as we could assemble. We also present a sampling of the hundreds of indigenous names which still survive throughout Central and South America, in recognition of the many peoples and cultures who first gave names to the edentates.
This is an expansive list, but it is by no means exhaustive in any of these languages; a truly comprehensive document would want a lifetime of ethnographic surveys throughout the hemisphere. Instead we have tried to compile, in a workable matrix, the names which have already been included in a variety of field guides, monographs, articles and other publications. Not all versions of each name have been listed here; many indigenous languages are only spoken, not written, and countless variants may stem from differences in transcription and pronunciation. Rather than list a dense tangle of infinite detail, we have tried to create a useful index of active common names, in hopes of providing an easy but thorough reference guide.
For the Latin names we follow the working taxonomy of the Edentate Specialist Group, as presented in Fonseca and Aguiar (2004), which itself follows the taxonomy of Mammal Species of the World, Second and Third Editions (Wilson and Reeder, 1993, 2005). We have listed the species names in alphabetical order within each of the three major divisions of the Xenarthra; this is a linguistic rather than a phylogenetic display, and no particular taxonomic arrangement is implied.
For the English common names, we rely primarily on Wilson and Cole's Common Names of Mammals of the World 2000, which tracks the taxonomy presented in Wilson and Reeder (1993). We use these names as our default standard, and they are presented first in the tables below. These names are generally used by the other major sources, but in cases where they provide different terms we have cited them individually. Superina (2000) adds several sensible variants which we felt should be included, and Duff and Lawson's recent book, Mammals of the World: A Checklist 2004 is a valuable secondary source.
There appears to be no Spanish counterpart to Wilson and Cole (2000), so for the primary names in Spanish we have relied on Neotropical Rainforest Mammals by Emmons and Feer (1997), and the three volumes of Mammals of the Neotropics by Eisenberg and Redford (1989, 1992, 1999). Emmons and Feer in particular give a wealth of names in more than a dozen languages, although their focus excludes most of the armadillos. We have also referred to Gene Montgomery's 1985 volume on The Evolution and Ecology of Armadillos, Sloths, and Vermilinguas.
We have drawn the Portuguese names from several sources, primarily Fonseca et al. (1996) and Emmons and Feer (1997), supplementing with other publications whenever possible. For German and French names, we have consulted Grzimeks Enzyklopädie Säugetiere 1988, while the Dutch names are taken principally from Father A. M. Husson's Mammals of Suriname 1978, supplemented by Emmons and Feer. Local and indigenous names appear in a wide spectrum of sources, including field guides, journal articles, monographs, Red List compilations and miscellaneous volumes.
But this is no final document: we hope this first effort will encourage our readers, especially those who live and work in the field, to contribute the common names they have encountered for edentates in any language. Comments in Spanish may be sent to Mariella Superina at <mariella@superina.ch>, and in English and Portuguese to John Aguiar at <j.aguiar@conservation.org>. We plan to establish an online, searchable data-base of edentate common names, to be made available on the website for the Edentate Specialist Group (< http://www.edentata.org>), and we look forward to augmenting this list manyfold with additions from yourselves.
Acknowledgments
Many of the sources we used are difficult to find outside of their country of origin, and we owe a particular debt of gratitude to Anthony Rylands for access to his extensive personal library. A special note of thanks must also go to Dr. Courtney Shaw, Senior Reference Librarian at the U. S. National Museum of Natural History, who provided a valuable text which no one else owned, just when it was needed the most. Thanks are likewise due to Sérgio Maia Vaz, of the Mammal Section at the Museu Nacional in Rio de Janeiro, for his time and efforts in finding additional Portuguese names. We also extend our appreciation to Dr. Jim Sanderson of CABS for his enthusiasm on behalf of the edentates and his interest in their common names. Finally, we are grateful to the authors of all our sources, both well-known and obscure, for making the effort to document the many names of the edentates.
References
Appendices
Appendix I: Citations by Country
Argentina (Ar): Chebez, 1994, 1996; Diaz and Ojeda, 2000; Guiñazú Rawson de Arentsen, 1956; Parera, 2002; Vizcaíno, 1997. Bolivia (Bo): Anderson, 1997; Cuéllar, 2001; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Ergueta S. and Morales, 1996. Brazil (Br): Aguiar and Fonseca, in review; Fonseca et al., 1994; Fonseca et al., 1996; Lara-Ruiz and Srbek-Araujo, 2006; Machado et al., 1998; Olmos, 1995; Redford, 1994. Central America (CA): Reid, 1997. Colombia (Co): Moreno and Plese, 2006. Costa Rica (CR): Carillo et al., 2002; Gómez, 2001; Janzen, 1983. Ecuador (Ec): Tirira S., 1999; Tirira S., 2001. Honduras (Ho): Marineros and Gallegos, 1998. Mexico (Me): Reid, 1997. Panama (Pn): J. Ledbetter, pers. comm. Peru (Pe): Leite Pitman et al., 2003; Pacheco et al., 1995. Suriname (Su): Husson, 1978. Uruguay (Ur): Fallabrino and Castiñera, 2006. Venezuela (Ve): Linares, 1998. References covering more than one country: Duff and Lawson, 2004; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; Eisenberg, 1989; Emmons and Feer, 1997; Grzimek, 1988; Montgomery, 1985; Redford and Eisenberg, 1992; Reid, 1997; Simpson, 1941; Superina, 2000; Wetzel and Mondolfi, 1979; Wilson and Cole, 2000; Wilson and Reeder, 2005.
Appendix II: Citations by Group
Sloths: Aguiar and Fonseca, in review; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Diaz and Ojeda, 2000; Emmons and Feer, 1997; Fonseca et al., 1994; Fonseca et al., 1996; Gómez, 2001; Grzimek, 1988; Lara-Ruiz and Srbek-Araujo, 2006; Leite Pitman et al., 2003; Linares, 1998; Marineros and Gallegos, 1998; Moreno and Plese, 2006; Pacheco et al., 1995; Redford, 1994; Reid, 1997; Tirira S., 1999. Anteaters: Chebez, 1994, 1996; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Emmons and Feer, 1997; Ergueta S. and Morales, 1996; Gómez, 2001; Grzimek, 1988; Janzen, 1983; Leite Pitman et al., 2003; Linares, 1998; Machado et al., 1998; Marineros and Gallegos, 1998; Olmos, 1995; Pacheco et al., 1995; Redford, 1994; Reid, 1997; Simpson, 1941; Tirira S., 2001. Armadillos: Anderson, 1997; Chebez, 1994, 1996; Cuéllar, 2001; Cuéllar S. and Noss, 2003; Diaz and Ojeda, 2000; Eisenberg, 1989; Eisenberg and Redford, 1999; Emmons and Feer, 1997; Ergueta S. and Morales, 1996; Fallabrino and Castiñera, 2006; Fonseca et al., 1996; Gómez, 2001; Grzimek, 1988; Guiñazú Rawson de Arentsen, 1956; Linares, 1998; Machado et al., 1998; Marineros and Gallegos, 1998; Olmos, 1995; Parera, 2002; Redford, 1994; Reid, 1997; Simpson, 1941; Superina, 2000; Tirira S., 2001; Vizcaíno, 1997; Wetzel and Mondolfi, 1979.
Appendix III: Indigenous Languages by Country
Argentina: Abipón, Guaraní, Pilagá, Toba, Wichí Lhamtés; Bolivia: Ayoreo, Chiquitano, Guaraní; Brazil: Guaraní, Tupí; Central America: Chocó, Maya; Chile: Araucanian; Colombia: Barí; Costa Rica: Boruca, Bribri; Ecuador: Quichua; Honduras: Garífuna, Pech, Tawahka; Nicaragua: Mískito; Panama: Guaymi, Kuna; Paraguay: Ayoreo, Guaraní; Peru: Amahuaca, Cashinahua, Machiguenga, Sharanahua; Surinam: Saramaccan, Sranan-Tongo, Wayana; Venezuela: Barí, Kariña, Makushi, Pemón, Warao, Yanomami, Yaruro. Note: some names listed here, such as Chocó, Guaraní, and Tupí, more properly refer to language groups rather than individual languages. The online edition of the Ethnologue (Gordon, 2005), published by the Sumner Institute of Linguistics, proved invaluable for checking these languages.
Notes
[1] Mariella Superina, University of New Orleans, Department of Biological Sciences, New Orleans, Louisiana 70148-0001, USA, e-mail: <mariella@superina.ch>.
[2] John M. Aguiar, Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International, 1919 M Street NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036, USA, e-mail: <j.aguiar@conservation.org>.