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Learning a native language could possibly stop extinction of species...
This fascinating article explores how native and indigenous cultures identify and classify species yet to be discovered by scientists.
An excerpt:
[Dr. Harrison] cited the example of a South American skipper butterfly, Astraptes fulgerator, which scientists thought was just one species until a DNA study three years ago revealed that it was in fact 10 different species whose camouflaged colouration made the adult forms appear identical to one another.
Yet if the scientists had spoken to the Tzeltal-speaking people of Mexico - descendants of the Maya - they might have learnt this information much sooner because Tzeltal has several descriptions of the butterflies based on the different kinds of caterpillar.
"These people live on the territory of that butterfly habitat and in fact care very little about the adult butterfly but they have a very-fine grained classification for the larvae because the caterpillars affect their crops and their agriculture," Dr Harrison said." (ELHAM)
April 30, 2007
