[Lexicog] biological identifications

[William J Poser]

I strongly recommend bringing in a professional ethnobiologist if you can.
Unless you know an awful lot about the biology of the area, you can't do as
good a job of species identifications as a biologist can. My personal experience
is that I had no trouble doing the mammals myself. The fish weren't a problem
because there is intense local interest in fisheries and so a number of people
with expertise. For instance, the Tribal Council has a full-time fisheries
staff member. Reptiles and amphibians I could do myself, but we've only got
four species. In warmer climates, you probably need a professional.
Plants and birds are much harder.

A professional biologist not only has more knowledge of the species and their
ranges, he or she also probably has access to resources that you don't, such
as collections of bird skins to show informants.

A professional ethnobiologist is still better than an ordinary biologist
for several reasons. One is that he or she will have experience working
with informants, which an ordinary biologist generally won't. An experienced
ethnobiologist knows what species are likely to be confused and how to
keep them apart. The ethnobiologist will also ask for information
about the cultural role of organisms, and will know how other people use
them, which will often suggest additional questions.

If you're going to do biological work on your own, I recommend reading up
on ethnobiology. A really interesting book, well worth reading even if you're
not doing your own biological work, is:

%A:Berlin, Brent
%D:1992
%B:Ethnobiological Classification: Principles of Categorization of Plants and Animals
   in Traditional Societies
%C:Princeton
%I:Princeton University Press
%ISBN:0-691-09469-1

Bill




--
Bill Poser, Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wjposer/ billposer at alum.mit.edu


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