Sanskrit Taxonomy

In this post, I am going to translate the taxonomnic terms into Sanskrit. In addition, I will also convey the Sanskrit taxonomic naming system that I came up with. Taxonomy is one of my most favourite feild in science, and coining Sanskrit wrods for animal names is a greate pleasure. With that being said let us procede.

Taxonomy Ranks

 When I first got into the idea of translating taxonomy terms into Sanskrit, it was by translating the names Kingdom, Phylum, Class, etc. What I didn't know at the time was that it was already done by others, and in fact modern Indian textbooks use such translation. I have adopted that and will show it here:

Kingdom: जगत्

Phylum: संघ

 

Class: वर्ग:

Order: गण

Family: कुल 

Genus: वंश 

Species: जाति

To say things like "suborder" or "subfamily", you add the prefix उप-. To say things like "superfamily" or "superorder" or refer to taxonomic ranks slightly higher up, that will use the prefix अधि-. Now I will build upon this by coining the term for clade, which literall the Sanskrti word for "branch", that is शाखा. The taxonomic rank of tribe in Sanskrit will be जन्य. 

The next thing I will do is coining. the taxonomic endings for levels at superfamily, family, and subfamily, and tribe. Ever notice that the family Homonidae ends in the suffix "-idae". The superfamily Homonoidae ends in "-oidae". The subfamily Homoninae ends in " -inae". The tribe Homonini ends in "-ini". Like that, I have devised corresponding Sanskrit suffixes to use.

Superfamily:  - रूप​ (form)

Family: -मय​ (suffix indicating "consisting of")

Subfamily: -आत्मक​ (whose self is)

Tribe:  -संकाश​ (resembling)

New Taxonomic Naming System

The next thing I want to introduce is a system of naming taxonomic groups based on existing taxonomy names. The idea is that if no sensible name can be coined for a clade, then we can default to this system. Let me explain with illustrations.  

Higher Taxonomic Rank from a Lower One

If I want to name a higher taxonomic rank after a lower taxonomic rank, I take the Sanskrit word for the animal of the lower rank and add to the end the words -आकृति or -दृश् . Both would the former would mean "having a (similar) form of ..." and the latter would mean having (similar) look of....". The latter is more ambigious than the former. 

Naming the Immediate Sister Group 

In the above illustration, Clade "A" will be named in relation to Clade "B". To do this, we employ the prefix उप-​. For example, crocodile is नक्र, and to name the sister clade of crocodiles, I would say उपनक्र.

Similar but only Tangentiall Related

Some animals are very similar looking or have some vague resemblence but are slightly related. So for example, Pythons and Boas; Crocodiles and Dinosaurs; Lorises and Tarsiers. For this we take the Sanskrit word for the animal in reference and add to it the prefix अप​-. So if Python is जगर​,  a Boa is अपजगर​.   

Name the Clade with Common Ancestor

If I want to name the a clade that consists 2 or more animals and their common ancestor, I would add the prefix स​- , followed by the animal names in Sanskrit, and then terminated with the word -कुलिन्. So Archasaur which includes crocodiles (नक्र​) and birds (पक्षि), would be सनक्रपक्षिकुलिन्.

Who Gets the Common Name

Before I move on, I want to talk about common names. So Lemurs are those what belong to the superfamily Lemuroidae and not just the family Lemuridae, otherwise King Julien would be a Lemur but not Maurice or Zoboofamoo. However, "True" Pythons are those that belong to the family Pythonidae and not Pyhtonoidae. So a Reticulated Python is a python, but a Mexican Burrowing Python is not a python despite being a close relative and in the same superfamily. 

To remedy this, in our Sanskrit naming system, the common name applies at the superfamily level by default, and hence when naming the superfamily, we must keep the common name of the animals in mind. So in our system a python (जगर​) is all those in the superfamily Pythonoidae (जगररूप​), and the family that contains the famous and abudent individuals, in this case Pythonidae will be सुजगरमय​, where we add the prefix "सु-". If for sem reason we have a python subfamily called Pythoninae, then the family the subfamily gets the prefix "अति-".  

Sanskrit Names for some Kingsoms, Classes, Orders   

So now I will conclude by presenting the Sanskrit translations of the Kingdoms, then the Phylum Chordatae (and the subphylum Verabtrae), and then the translations of the 5 classes and then a translations of the orders with in Mammals and Reptiles. Asterisks indicate that the word is not coined by me, but either is attested in Sanskrit or coined by someone else and is already in use. 

Kingdoms (जगत्) and Phylum (संघ​) of Vertabrates

Animals: *जन्तु

Plants: *वनस्पति

Fungus: *कवक (literally "mushroom", but broadening it)

Protists: *प्रवीज​ 

Now the Phylum Chordata. The Interesting thing is that not all chordates are having a backbone; some are invertabrates, i.e. tunicates and lancelets. The name Chordata derives from the fact that these namials nave a notochord in their backs.This chord runs from head to tail in allows the cells in the embryo to devlope in that head-to-tail body plan. I shall call the notochord as "back string" or "पृष्ठतन्त्र", and Chordates as "पृष्ठतन्त्रिन्". Veretbrate is straight forward having a backbone (कशेरु), thus कशेरुवत्.

Five Animal Classes of Vertebrates 

Now the five animal classes have already been named. I will encount the Sanskrit names for the Telugu version if asterisk is shown. 

Mammals: *क्षीरद​ (milk giver)

Reptiles: *सरीसृप​ (crawler)

Fish: मत्स्य​

Amphibian: *उभयचर​ (in my opinion उभयजीव​ is better) 

Bird: पक्षिन्

Orders of Mammals and Reptiles

Now I will name the Orders of Mammals that I am confident in. Again, asterisks indicate that I am not the one that coined these words.

Mammals

Carnivora: *मांसाहारिन् ("meat eater")

Artiodactyla: युग्माङ्गुलिन् ("even toes")

    Cetaecae: तिमि ("whale", whales are artiodactyles)

Persiodactyla: *अयुग्माङ्गुलिन् ("odd toes")

Proboscidae:  गज​ ("elephant")

Primate: कपि or कपेय​  ("monkey/ape" and "monkeyish/apish")

Chiroptera: जतुका ("bat")

Rodenta: रादक​ or *कृन्तक​  ("gnawing")

Cingulata: वर्मिक​ ("armoured")

Reptiles:

Crocodilia: नक्र​ ("crocodile")

Squamata: सरट​ ("lizard")

    *Serpentes: सर्प​ ("snake", snakes are lizards)

Testudine: कच्छप​ ("turtle", tortises are turtles)

Conclusion

With that, that concludes this blog. I will name the orders for birds and groups with in fish later. I will also explore new naming systems and perhaps even names some extinct animals.