Naming
The giant otter has a handful of other names. River wolf (Spanish: lobo de río) and water dog (Spanish: perro de agua) are used occasionally, though the latter has many other meanings) and may have been more common in the reports of explorers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. All three names are in use in Spanish and Portuguese, with a number of regional variations. "Giant otter" translates as nutria gigante and lontra gigante in Spanish and Portuguese, respectively; a fourth name, ariraí or ariranha is also in use in South America. Among the Achuar people, they are known as wankanim, and among the Sanumá as hadami. The genus name, Pteronura, is derived from the Ancient Greek words pteron/πτερον (feather or wing) and ura/ουρά (tail), a reference to its distinctive, wing-like tail.
Read more about this topic: Giant Otter
Famous quotes containing the word naming:
“The night is itself sleep
And what goes on in it, the naming of the wind,
Our notes to each other, always repeated, always the same.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Husband,
who am I to reject the naming of foods
in a time of famine?”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)
“See, see where Christ’s blood streams in the firmament!
One drop would save my soul—half a drop! ah, my Christ!—
Ah, rend not my heart for naming of my Christ!—
Yet will I call on him!—O, spare me, Lucifer!—
Where is it now? ‘T is gone; and see where God
Stretcheth out his arm, and bends his ireful brows!—
Mountains and hills, come, come and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!”
—Christopher Marlowe (1564–1593)