The American Alligator
Occasionally a scientific binomial needs little or no translation or explanation. Today’s word, Alligator mississippiensis is a perfect example. First described by French zoologist François Marie Daudin in his most important treatise that covered 1100 reptiles, frogs and lizards, the 8 volume Natural History of Reptiles.Daudin described the species as Crocodylus. But even the word alligator needs no real translation-it is a mash-up of the Latin pronoun ille meaning that and lacertus, meaning a lizard. Yes, imagine the fear of seeing a real alligator for the first time and only being able to stammer out ‘that-Lizard!’ The word alligator entered English as alligater or alligarter around 1560. Mississipienses refers to the river, not the American state.
Image of an American alligator courtesy Jose M. Rus, used with permission under a creative commons 3.0 license.
