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UNDERDIFFERENTIATED TAXA AND SUBLEXICAL CATEGORIZATION: AN EXAMPLE FROM MATSES CLASSIFICATION OF BATS
Abstract
ABSTRALl,-This study looked at the classification of bats by the Matses Indians of Amazonian Peru using fouf methods: 1) interviews; 2) elicitation of bat names using freshJy~captured zoological specimens; 3} grammatical analysis of bat terminology: and 4) analysi, of recorded texts about bats. The results showed that although the Matses ha.ve only one lexicali2..ed name for referring to bats {of which 57 species have been collected at one Matses village}, they recognize morphological and behavioral diversity in the local bat fauna at the level of family, subfamily, genus f or species, 'We suggest methods for identifying unnanled terminal taxa in folk classification systems, and explore the taxonomic and cognitive nature of sublexical folk-biological terminal taxa. lmpHcations of oue n-"Sults for biological inventory fieldwork are briefly discussed, Key words: Matses r bats, folk classificatioI1 r nomenclature, Amazonia RESUMEN.-·~Esteestudio examina ia dasHicaci6n de murdelagos par los: Matses de la Amazonia Peruana usando cuatro metodos: 1) etrcvistas; 2) elidtaci6n de nombres de murcieIago5 usaIldo espcdmcnes recien capturados; 3} analisls gra-rnatical de la terrninologia referente a murdelagos; y 4) analisis de grabaciof\.cs de lex-tos sobre murciEHagos. Los resultados revclaron que aunque los Matses ti-enen s610 un nombre lexicallzado refercnte a murcielagos-(de los cuales hemos capturado 57 espE'Cies alrededor de un solo pueblo MaLses), ellos reconocen di-versidad en la morfologia y <:cnducta de la fauna local de murcielagos al nivel de familia, subfamilia, genera, 0 espede, Aqul sugerimos metodos para 13 identifi-caci6n de taxones (caregonas hiol6gicas) terminales no nombradas en sistemas de dasificaci6n tradicionaIes, y exploramos la base taxon6mica y cognitiva de taxones terminales en sistemas de nomenclatura biologica tradicional. Oiscutimos breve-mente las implicaciones de nuestros resultados para e1 trahajo de campo de in-ventario bio16gico, RESU~fE,·-Cette etude examine 1a classification des chauve-souris par les Indiens Matses de l'Amazonle peruvienne en utilisant quatre methodes: 1) des entrevues; 2) Is presentation aux Matses de sp&irnens recemmt'11t captures pour decouvrir Ie nom des chauve-souris; 3) analyse grammatka1e de 1a termmologie des chauve-souris; et 4) analyse d'enregistrements de textes concernant les chauve-souris. Les resultats montrent que bien que les Matses n'aient qu'un sen! nom lexica lise pour parler des chauve-souris (doni 57 especes ont ete caprurees dans un seul village), ils en rcconnais..sent la diversite dans la ITIurphologie et Jc comportement au niveau de la lamille, la sous-famille, Ie genre, ou I'espece. Nous suggerons des methodes 62 FLECK et aL Vol. 22, No.1 pour identifier des taxa terminaux sans noms, et nous explorons la nature taxõ nomique et cognitive des taxa terminaux dans les s)rstemes traditionels de c1ass ification. Nous presentons aussi brievement !'implication des nos resultats pour Ies inventalres sur Ie terrain.
... The taxonomic accounts in this monograph explain such nomenclatural issues and summarize phenotypic data that we obtained in the process of documenting species identifications. 1 As in previous faunal monographs, we also compile natural history information associated with collected specimens, although some of this information has already been published (Voss et al., 2016). Matses knowledge about bats was discussed by Fleck et al. (2002), but we summarize additional ethnographic observations in a section that follows the taxonomic accounts. Lastly, we address biogeographic and ecological topics in a concluding discussion. 1 New bat species discovered in the course of our inventory have been described elsewhere Lim et al., 2010;Velazco and Patterson, 2019;Velazco et al., , 2017. ...
... No subspecies of Cormura brevi rostris are currently recognized (Hood and Gardner, 2008). Sanborn (1937), Ceballos-Bendezú (1968), Fleck et al. (2002), and Medina et al. (2015) correctly identified their specimens of Cormura brevirostris from Orosa, Quebrada Esperanza, Nuevo San Juan, and Río Blanco, respectively, but Ascorra et al. (1993) misidentified the specimens from Jenaro Herrera as Peropteryx kap pleri. Sanborn (1937) described two color phases in Cormura, one deep blackish brown and the other reddish brown. ...
... Two subspecies are currently recognized: P. k. kappleri (Central America to Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guianas, and southeastern Brazil) and P. k. intermedius (southern Peru) (Hood and Gardner, 2008). Fleck et al. (2002) and Lim et al. (2010) correctly identified our material from Nuevo San Juan as Peropteryx kappleri. The specimen from Jenaro Herrera is morphologically indistinguishable from the Nuevo San Juan material, exhibiting all the diagnostic characters for this species as described by Lim et al. (2010) and noted above. ...
In this report, the fourth of our monographic series on mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluvial region of northeastern Peru, we document the occurrence of 98 species of bats, including 11 emballonurids, 2 noctilionids, 66 phyllostomids, 1 furipterid, 4 thyropterids, 7 vespertilionids, and 7 molossids. New species based on specimens collected in this region (Peropteryx pallidoptera, Micronycteris matses, Hsunycteris dashe, Sturnira giannae, and Thyroptera wynneae) have already been described elsewhere, but noteworthy distributional and taxonomic results newly reported here include the first specimen of Diclidurus isabella from Peru and the diagnosis of Glossophaga bakeri as a species distinct from G. commissarisi. Lists of examined voucher specimens, identification criteria, essential taxonomic references, and summaries of natural history observations are provided for all species. Original natural history information reported herein includes numerous observations of roosting behavior obtained by indigenous Matses collaborators. We assess the Yavarí-Ucayali bat inventory for completeness and conclude that more species remain to be discovered in the region, where as many as 116 species might be expected. Most of the “missing” species (those expected based on geographic criteria but not actually observed) are aerial insectivores, a guild that is notoriously difficult to sample by mistnetting. Of the 98 species in the observed regional fauna, only 71 are known to occur sympatrically at Jenaro Herrera, by far the best-sampled locality between the Yavarí and Ucayali rivers. Faunal comparisons with extralimital inventories (e.g., from Brazil, Ecuador, and French Guiana) suggest that frugivorous bats are substantially more speciose in western Amazonia than in eastern Amazonia, a result that is consistent with previous suggestions of an east-to-west gradient in the trophic structure of Amazonian mammal faunas. As previously reported, the Matses have only a single name for “bat,” but they recognize the existence of many unnamed local species, which they distinguish on the basis of morphology and behavior. However, by contrast with the well-documented accuracy of Matses observations about primates and other game species, recorded Matses monologs about bat natural history contain numerous factual errors and ambiguities. Linguistic underdifferentiation of bat diversity and inaccurate natural history knowledge are both explained by cultural inattention to small, inedible, and inoffensive nocturnal fauna.
... Unlike the scientific naming process, ILK may consider a diversity of species that is uncorrelated with the number of local names. Local communities may, for instance, recognize that there are more than one species under a local name [10], although the concept of species is not universal. ...
... It is plausible to interpret that the overall fear of snakes is the key driver behind this naming pattern. It has been shown that the existence of local names for different species does not directly translate to how many species are in reality recognized by indigenous people [10] and nor how well people understand their ecology [36]. ...
Background
Species with direct uses, such as sources of food, shelter, building material and medicine tend to have more specific local names. But could the same apply for species that people fear?
Methods
To address this question, here we explore the behavior and perception of species diversity and dangerousness through a survey of 1037 households in nine villages in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique. We compare people’s knowledge of snakes with that of lizards and amphibians.
Results
We find that northern Mozambicans know four to five times more local names for snakes than for lizards and frogs, despite the local species richness of snakes being comparable to the diversity of lizards and frogs. We further find that local knowledge was on par with the academic literature regarding snakebite symptoms.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that fear can increase the level of specificity in naming species among indigenous communities, which could lead to biases in the mapping and protection of species that include data from citizen reports.
... Our assessment of knowledge includes uses and attitudes towards bats, the existence of bat-related fady, and mentions of bats (Altringham 2011). Although many bat species are relatively abundant close to human settlements and some can even be characterized as synanthropic (i.e., as living near and benefiting from humans; López-Baucells et al. 2017;Russo and Ancillotto 2015), recorded ethnobiological knowledge about bat diversity and ecology is somewhat sparse (e.g., da Costa Rego et al. 2015;Laverty et al. 2021;Sexton and Stewart 2007;Sheherazade and Tsang 2015; but see Fleck et al. 2002;Taylor and Butler 2007), especially considering how widespread, species-rich, and often locally abundant bats are. This gap in recorded knowledge is likely, in part, associated with bats' nocturnal habits and elusive behaviors. ...
... Around one-third (29%) of the interviewees that knew folktales mentioned the song "Ity ny apombonao ry kananavy ["here is your meal of rice husks, my bat"]." ethnic groups, a single lexicalized name might also be used to refer to multiple bat taxa that are identified as morphologically and behaviorally different-as it is the case among Matses Indians of Amazonian Peru (Fleck et al. 2002). "Angavo" and "fanihy" seem to be associated in our study area with the three species of frugivorous bats found in Madagascar. ...
Human-bat interactions are common in rural areas across the tropics. Over 40 bat species occur in Madagascar, most of which are endemic. Forest loss is changing the distribution of bats throughout the island, with potential increases in both the abundance of synanthropic species and human-bat interactions. We set out to study knowledge of, interactions with, and attitudes towards bats in rural Madagascar, including reports of food and ethnomedicinal uses of bats, their cultural representations in folklore, and the existence of culturally enforced taboos in relation to them. We administered 108 surveys with open- and closed-ended questions with adults from the Tanala and Betsileo ethnic groups living around Ranomafana National Park. Most interviewees mentioned at least two types of bats. Over 10% of the interviewees had consumed bats and ∼20% used bat guano as a fertilizer. Around one-fifth recognized cultural taboos inhibiting bat hunting and consumption and most considered bats not to be dangerous. However, some informants mentioned that bats could carry diseases and complained about the bad smell and noise associated with bat roosts in houses and public buildings. Nearly 25% of the respondents could identify cultural representations of bats in local folklore. Malagasy rural communities interact closely with bats, but severely underestimate the diversity of bat species around them. Taken together, our results greatly increase the understanding of social-ecological complexities of human-bat relationships in rural Madagascar, offer possible pathways for biocultural approaches to conservation, and yield insights applicable to other communities coexisting with bats across the humid tropics.
... Three folk taxa are simply referred to as "moths" even though they are distinctly separate in terms of their features. This phenomenon is found throughout the world, and occasionally even appears in quite extreme forms: in one Matsés tribe in Peru, only a single local name was used by interviewees for more than 50 species of bat, despite the local people's clear and detailed knowledge of their differences (Fleck et al. 2002). ...
Although a significant proportion of folk knowledge of nature concerns knowledge of invertebrates and vertebrates living in the wild, very little ethnozoological research has been carried out in Central Europe focusing on the whole fauna. In writing the present paper, our aim was to contribute to filling this gap by interviewing 40 local farmers who are particularly knowledgeable on this topic, half of them from the Őrség region of Hungary, and half from the neighboring villages in Slovenia, and by recording their knowledge with respect to non-domesticated animals.
Our research identified the second highest number of taxa (242 species-level folk taxa) in terms of investigations carried out in the Hungarian language area in relation to the entire fauna. These included 129 invertebrate folk taxa, 73% of which were called by a species-specific name. They also included 109 vertebrate folk taxa, 103 of which had a separate species-level local name. In the case of two groups (butterflies and mammals), we also investigated attributes that were important and salient from the point of view of species knowledge: morphology and size were of particular relevance in relation to mammal species; while salient habitat features and frequency were relevant in relation to butterfly species. In the case of both groups, usefulness was the least important factor.
Despite the general erosion of traditional ecological knowledge in Europe, these recently collected data indicate that a rich, vibrant knowledge is still to be found among the Hungarians whom we interviewed in the Őrség region and the neighboring villages in Slovenia. The especially large number of recorded folk taxa, and the accurate knowledge required to differentiate between them confirm, that even today it is worth carrying out investigations on this topic in East Central Europe in the interests of obtaining knowledge of, and conserving cultural and natural values.
... That folk lexicon used to refer to bats, at least across much of the Paleotropics, categorizes bats according to two groups, largely aligned with small, mainly insectivorous (suborder Microchiroptera) and larger and mostly frugivorous (family Pteropodidae) bats (e.g., Cox 1983;Forth 2021;Rocha et al. 2021b;Tanalgo et al. 2016). However, an important ethnobiological contribution by Fleck et al. (2002) has identified that the Matses Indians of Amazonian Peru associated a single lexicalized name to various bats, which they regarded as morphologically and behaviorally different. This suggests that studies assessing traditional ecological knowledge in relation to bat diversity without the use of specimens or photographs might be underestimating local people's capacity to discriminate between different bat species. ...
Although elusive due to their mostly nocturnal behavior, bats have fascinated humans for millennia. From their ubiquitous presence in Mayan mythology to being regarded as symbols of good fortune in the Middle-to-Late Qing Dynasty of China, bats have been both feared and celebrated across cultures from all over the world. The research articles included in this collection illustrate the myriad ways in which bats and humans have interacted over time, highlighting how these airborne mammals have been associated with death, witchcraft, vampires, malevolent spirits, and evil in some cultures, while, in other places—particularly across the Asia-Pacific region—they have been largely linked to luck and good fortune and used as spiritual totems. This collection also showcases how multiple cultural groups, particularly across the tropics, have traditionally hunted bats for human consumption and traditional medicine, and used their guano as a fertilizer. In times of rapid global change and when bats are often associated with zoonotic disease risks, a trend that has been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, this special issue constitutes one significant step towards a richer understanding of bat-human inter-relationships. The lives of humans and bats have been closely intertwined over time and our collection celebrates how bat diversity supports the biocultural richness of our planet.
... Nage animal taxonomy conforms to this model (Forth 2004), as do folk taxonomies of other Malayo-Polynesian speakers (e.g., Ellen 1993). Further examples are found in Africa, New Guinea, Australia, India, Europe, and North, Central, and South America (Brown 1984:226-264; see also Fleck et al. 2002;Tuladhar-Douglas 2008;Ulicsni et al. 2013;Walsh 2009). On the whole, though, it would be more accurate to say that Nage, and other people as well (e.g., Tuladhar-Douglas 2008;Walsh 2009), classify bats "with" birds-that is, within a class that primarily includes birds-rather than "as" birds. ...
Drawing on previous publications by the author, this article brings together information on folk classification and symbolic values of bats among the Nage people of the Indonesian island of Flores. This information is supplemented by new data from more recent field-based ethnobiological research in Nage and other parts of Flores, and is analyzed comparatively with reference to ideas about Chiropterans from other parts of the world. The way Nage and other Flores Islanders treat bats may appear cross-culturally unusual, but their ideas are shown to fit within a range of ways humans think about these remarkable creatures. In a more general vein, attention is given to the widely recognized morphological and behavioral ambiguity of bats and the variable extent to which this ambiguity affects their representation—both in folk zoological classification (or ethnotaxonomy) and symbolic thought (including taboo, spiritual belief, myth, and metaphor). A comparative analysis also demonstrates how, by contrast to the stereotypical view of bats as embodiments of evil in European thought, both Westerners and non-Westerners can represent bats positively, and that even where a generally negative view prevails, bats can possess a positive value contextually.
... A potential drawback of the freelisting method is that there may be differences in the species naming, especially among local and non-expert informants (Fleck et al. 2002). However, in our study, only very few responses could not be assigned to any particular species (see results). ...
The study of people’s knowledge through interviews and questionnaires can provide a good picture of the composition of mammal communities. However, there is considerable potential for error and bias in these surveys, including some associated with the familiarity of respondents with wildlife. Our main goals were: 1) to assess mammal community composition of the Huinay Biological Reserve, a remote Valdivian rainforest area in southern Chile, and 2) to evaluate the relationship between the degree of respondents’ contact with native mammals and their knowledge about the mammal community. A questionnaire was designed to gather data about the mammal species recorded by people who lived in, or had visited, the area between 2010 and 2013. A total of 13 mammal species were mentioned by 43 participants in the survey. Overall, all the mammal species that inhabit the study area according to general mammal distribution maps were identified in our survey. Both the total number of species mentioned (observed or not) and the number of species seen by the respondents were positively associated with the time they stayed in the area. Our findings suggest that questionnaire surveys may provide useful information about the composition of mammal communities in remote areas of southern Chile, but selecting knowledgeable respondents is challenging.
The Pacific coastal desert of Peru harbors a unique bat fauna, including narrowly endemic taxa adapted to arid environments. This region was also the setting where several pre-Incan civilizations flourished. The Moche culture (100-850 CE) was one of those, with a rich and diverse material culture that included strikingly realistic ceramic representations of the regional flora and fauna. In particular, one Mochica pottery vessel is in the form of a bat that, based on external characteristics (large pinnae and tragus, pinnae connected by high band of membrane across the forehead, and lack of noseleaf), clearly represents an individual of the vespertilionid genus Histiotus. The morphological characteristics observed in this vessel, in addition to the area of influence of the Moche culture, suggests that this vessel depicts a species previously unknown to science that we describe here as new on the basis of two specimens obtained in 2012 in the Peruvian department of Piura. Our new species, Histiotus mochica, can be distinguished from other congeners by having unicolored dorsal fur, medial lobes of pinnae greater than 9.5 mm wide, and a well-developed (>4.3 mm high) transverse band of skin connecting the pinnae. Cytochrome b sequence data indicate that the new species is sister to H. humboldti from the Andes of Colombia and northern Ecuador. The new species is a medium-sized Histiotus that clusters with H. laephotis, H. velatus, and with small specimens of H. montanus in our multivariate analyses. With the description of H. mochica, the diversity of the genus increases to 11 species. We provide a key based on external characters of all known species of Histiotus.
This report is the third in our monographic series on mammalian diversity and Matses ethnomammalogy in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluvial region of northeastern Peru. Based on taxonomic analysis of specimens collected in the region, we document the occurrence of 19 species of marsupials in the genera Caluromys, Glironia, Hyladelphys, Marmosa, Monodelphis, Metachirus, Chironectes, Didelphis, Philander, Gracilinanus, and Marmosops. Our principal taxonomic results include the following: (1) we provide a phylogenetic analysis of previously unpublished mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data for Caluromys that supports the reciprocal monophyly of all currently recognized species in the genus but reveals substantial heterogeneity in one extralimital taxon; (2) we explain why Marmosa constantiae is the correct name for the southwestern Amazonian taxon previously known as Mar. demerarae, and we diagnose Mar. constantiae from Mar. rapposa, a superficially similar species from southern Peru, eastern Bolivia, and central Brazil; (3) we explain why Mar. rutteri is the correct name for one of the Amazonian species currently known as Mar. regina, and we restrict the latter name to the transAndean holotype; (4) we recognize Metachirus myosuros as a species distinct from Met. nudicaudatus based on morphological comparisons and a phylogenetic analysis of new mtDNA sequence data; and (5) we name a new species of Marmosops to honor the late Finnish-Peruvian naturalist Pekka Soini.
Of the 19 marsupial species known to occur in the Yavarí-Ucayali interfluve, 16 have been recorded in sympatry at Nuevo San Juan, the Matses village where we based most of our fieldwork from 1995 to 1999. We explain why we believe the marsupial species list from Nuevo San Juan to be complete (or nearly so), and we compare it with a species list obtained by similarly intensive fieldwork at Paracou (French Guiana). Although Nuevo San Juan and Paracou are 2500 km apart on opposite sides of Amazonia, the same opossum genera are present at both sites, the lists differing only in the species represented in each fauna. We briefly discuss current explanations for spatial turnover in species of terrestrial vertebrates across Amazonian landscapes and provide evidence that the upper Amazon is a significant dispersal barrier for marsupials.
Marsupials are not important to the Matses in any way. In keeping with their cultural inattention to mammals that are inconspicuous, harmless, and too small to be of dietary significance, the Matses lexically distinguish only a few kinds of opossums, and they are not close observers of opossum morphology or behavior.
lnfonnant G (30-year-old man
lnfonnant G (30-year-old man; Buenas Lomas; 3 July 1998; 1:47 min)