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GRADES 4-8
LATIN LINGO
OBJECTIVE
The Greek and Latin root words that make up the scientific name often describe the animal. Using the Greek and Latin root words below, students will decode each dolphin's scientific name.
MATERIALS

papers

markers or crayons

dictionary

 

BACKGROUND

Each species of dolphin has a scientific name. This helps scientists know exactly which animal is being discussed, even though it may have more than one common name. For example, what one scientist calls a short-snouted spinner dolphin, another might call a Clymene dolphin. But if they used the mane Stenella clymene, they would both understand which dolphin they were discussing.
ROOT WORDS

acutus - sharp or pointed

albus - white
australis - southern
borealis - northern
coeruleus - sky blue
cephale - head
crassus - thick
crucis - cross
dens - tooth
delphis - dolphin
gero - bear, carry
globus - globe, ball
grampus - a kind of whale
griseus - gray
lagen - a flask
lisso - smooth
melanus - black
obscurus - dark
orca - a kind of whale
ops - face
pseudos - false
rostris - beak, snout
rhynchos - beak, snout
stenos - narrow
truncare - cut off
ursio - dolphin
 
For a quick look at bottlenose dolphin information, visit the Bottlenose Dolphin Animal Byte.
For in-depth information on bottlenose dolphins, visit the Bottlenose Dolphin InfoBook.
 
 

ACTION

1.

Referencing the root word list, translate the following genus species names.

EXAMPLE
Tursiops truncatus (bottlenose dolphin) = dolphin with a cut-off face
TRANSLATE

Stenella coeruleoalba (striped dolphin) =

Grampus griseus (Risso's dolphin) =
Lagenorhynchus obscurus (dusky dolphin) =
Globicephala melaena (long-finned pilot whale) =
Lagenorhynchus actus (Atlantic white-sided dolphin) =
Pseudorca crassidens (false killer whale) =
Lagenorhynchus albirostris (white-beaked dolphin) =
Lagenorhynchus cruciger (hourglass dolphin) =
Lissodelphin borealis (northern right whale dolphin) =
Lagenorhynchus australis (Peale's dolphin) =
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DEEPER DEPTHS

1.

Now it's your turn! Use the root words listed above to create a name for an imaginary species of dolphin, and draw a picture of it.

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SOURCE MATERIAL

This classroom activity is adapted from the Bottlenose Dolphin Teacher's Guide. While select guides are available directly within the pages of ANIMALS (see TEACHER GUIDES), the totality of our Teacher Guides are available for purchase via our catalog or education e-store.
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