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Has anyone here looked into the Latin roots of the four Acanthosaura (mountain horned dragon) species? I'm curious as to what they mean... But bear with me, I'm not an expert at interpreting Latin.

Acanthosaura itself I'm quite certain means something close to "spined lizard," since acantha means spine or spinous process of a vertebra, and saura means lizard.

A. armata I'm leaning towards "armored" or "armed MHD" as armata appears close to arma, which would be defensive arms, weapons or armor.

A. capra I'm stumped on, as the only meaning I can find for capra is a "she-goat." Does this lizard look goat-like? Not really... Any ideas?

A. crucigera, cruci- I'm thinking has something to do with the cross, some photos I've found show a cross-like marking on the dorsal aspect of this species' neck, but their colour and pattern is apparently quite variable so nothing solid. Does anyone know what the suffix -gera means?

A. lepidogaster seems like "elegant MHD," as lepidus could mean charming, witty, elegant or pleasant. Anyone know what -gaster means?

I've also posted this on the Mountain/Tree Dragon forum.

Christina Miller
Herptiles.net

Hi!

You should notice, that the "latin", which is used in scientific names of different species, isn't really latin.
It's a mix of greece, latin, heprew, and some other languages.
So if you have problems in translation, you should also try to check atleast the greece dictionary.

-V

nt

Hi Christina,

Actually you have done pretty well in interpreting the etymology of these names.

Acanthosaura does indeed mean "spiny lizard"

A. armata does mean "armed spiny lizard"

capra does mean goat. It may have been named for some behavioral or ecological trait that reminded the author of goats. I could perhaps guess that it lives in a goat-favored habitat - a wild guess! You would need to consult the original description to see if the author gives an explanation.

A. crucigera does mean "cross-bearing spiny lizard"

"lepidogaster" is not Latin, but Greek. "gaster" is a term used in many, many herp names. It means "belly". "lepidus" is Greek for rocky, or by extension "hard". So the name probably means "hard (or rough) bellied spiny lizard."

Thanks for confirming. Another poster on the Mountain/Tree Dragon forum said the same thing.

Apparently A. capra is named after a goat because this species has only two occipital horns, whereas the other three species have four. Its two-horned appearance must have seemed goat-like.

Also, A. lepidogaster has distinct ventral scales, a feature used to identify the species. So "rough-belly" makes sense.

Thanks for replying!

Christina
Herptiles.net

Concerning capra, my guess would be the general appearance of the animal - two little horns on the top of the head and a beard. I know the the others would also fit in that description (same for A. armata), but I imagine it was difficult to find a characteristic that was identifying it from the other known Acanthosaura at the time, so a name that was descriptive of the animal's appearance may have seemed appropriate. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Jean F Déry