tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post1146731345703832912..comments2024-03-18T09:44:41.095+00:00Comments on ShukerNature: UNMASKING THE MOONRAT - A HAIRY HEDGEHOG THE SIZE OF A CAT!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15628598508836601012noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-50045654149228482102016-01-24T20:23:53.877+00:002016-01-24T20:23:53.877+00:00The earliest reference I can find to a local name ...The earliest reference I can find to a local name is: Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles "Descriptive Catalogue of a Zoological Collection etc." Transactions of the Linnean Society of London (1821/1822) XIII: 239 - 274 and has the name as Tikus Ambang bĂșlan. Ambang meaning verge or threshold in Malay, so not simply a moonrat.<br /><br />As the Malays (according to Raffles, in the woods in the interior of Malacca) call it moonrat it seems that the two-tone, non-Bornean ones are called by this name. I would speculate that, as they like wet areas and frequently swim, the sight of the wet, mottled head amongst ripples would be reminiscent of the moon's reflection. <br /><br />Do you have any specifically Bornean local names amongst those other local names you have? Pattockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00741004991950391554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-53109587030931623142016-01-23T18:04:13.035+00:002016-01-23T18:04:13.035+00:00Yes, I am aware of several local names for it that...Yes, I am aware of several local names for it that all translate as 'moon rat', but this does not explain why a precise lunar epithet (as opposed to one merely denoting night-time activity) is used for this species. After all, there are countless species of nocturnal animal, but their local names do not normally translate as 'moon...' (instead they are often merely referred to as night..., if indeed their nocturnal activity features at all in their name), so why, specifically, is this species so named? Unless, as I noted in my article, its very exotic, almost unearthly appearance has inspired such an imaginative name for it?Dr Karl Shukerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06222845702628862829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3739684561063978507.post-87558359150284653232016-01-23T14:25:28.516+00:002016-01-23T14:25:28.516+00:00Didn't you try the Oxford English Dictionary? ...Didn't you try the Oxford English Dictionary? They have this quote:<br /><br />1897 Science Apr. 640/2 The Malays, because of its nocturnal habits and appearance, call it tikus bulan, which means moon-rat.Pattockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00741004991950391554noreply@blogger.com