Slender-Tailed Meerkats?

Water Dragon

Water Dragon

Well-Known Member
So this is a question that I have had rolling round my head for a while.
Many zoos have their meerkats signed as 'slender-tailed' meerkats but I have never come across a meerkat that isn't slender-tailed. Is a slender-tailed meerkat a subspecies of meerkat or an alternate name?
 
LaughingDove said:
I get the feeling that many zoos add the 'Slender-tailed' part to the name to sound more scientific and to give an impression that their signage is more precise. It just seems pretentious to me.
Click to expand...
That is so true! Nearly every zoo I have been to has a sign saying "slender-tailed meerkat" but like you said, it is just an attempt to make their signage seem more professional.
 
Names can also vary depending on the country; for example the weasel in the UK is simply called that; whilst in the USA it might well be called the least-weasel.

Alongside that you've got difference in taxonomy that account for variations in names. Even the Latin names of many species can vary depending on the taxanomic breakdown one ascribes to (esp these days with DNA changing many things). For example there is somewhere in the region of 4 or 5 current popular choices for taxonomy for birds in Europe (at least a year or two ago there were when I last read on this).


It can cause confusion when names for the same things change and its not just the local common name.

Zoos might also use it to be more professional by using formal full names of species not just the short-version. It could also be an attempt to make their stock sound more impressive to viewers; although I'd argue that is more a byproduct of being more technically correct than marketing.
 
overread said:
Names can also vary depending on the country; for example the weasel in the UK is simply called that; whilst in the USA it might well be called the least-weasel.

Alongside that you've got difference in taxonomy that account for variations in names. Even the Latin names of many species can vary depending on the taxanomic breakdown one ascribes to (esp these days with DNA changing many things). For example there is somewhere in the region of 4 or 5 current popular choices for taxonomy for birds in Europe (at least a year or two ago there were when I last read on this).


It can cause confusion when names for the same things change and its not just the local common name.

Zoos might also use it to be more professional by using formal full names of species not just the short-version. It could also be an attempt to make their stock sound more impressive to viewers; although I'd argue that is more a byproduct of being more technically correct than marketing.
Click to expand...

Although that is certainly true for most cases, the thing about the meerkat though is that adding slender-tailed doesn't make it more technically correct whereas there are a large number of species called weasels so adding 'least' to the name does add information. With meerkats as well being in a monotypic genus with (as far as I know) no splits being considered at all, the taxonomy is not an issue and using the common name to clarify the scientific name is silly and defeats the whole point of the scientific name.

To be fair though, I hadn't heard of yellow mongoose being called a meerkat so that could justify adding the 'slender-tailed' part. Though the fact that I had never heard the name 'bushy-tailed meerkat' before suggests that the name is not used commonly enough to have any confusion.

I'm certainly not advocating zoos stop specifying what species they have. If a zoo had signs saying 'mongoose' or 'gibbon' or 'macaque' or, now that you mention it, 'weasel' with no further details, I would view that very negatively, but for meerkats I don't think there is any point to it. There isn't much educational value to the extra name which is more likely to alienate people reading the sign and unlike most cases where extra names do clarify things, 'slender tailed' doesn't give any more information for interested people either.
 
Gotta admit, I too have never heard of the yellow mongoose being called the Bushy-tailed Meerkat, though I have heard of it being called the Red Meerkat. I've also heard of the meerkat being called the Grey Meerkat, the Southwest African Meerkat (on a San Diego Zoo sign..) and the Suricate. Silly, there is only one species. There are different subspecies though experts disagree on their distributions and such. There are no 'common names' for the subspecies, only scientific names. But no zoo recognises or lists the subspecies, and many interbred them anyway. No need to use the outdated, extended common name for the species.
 
Water Dragon said:
I guess it would be the same for Duck-Billed Platypus as well.
Click to expand...
just to be annoying (;)), there are also Platypus Beetles. If you were talking to an entomologist and said "I wish I could see a platypus" he might entirely misunderstand you and pull out his collection of Platypus, expecting gasps of appreciation - only to be met with confused silence.
 
The name 'meerkat' derives from the Dutch for 'long-tailed monkey'. The duck-billed platypus was going to have the generic name 'Platypus' until it was realised that the name had been used for a beetle. Similarly, the spiny anteater was going to have the generic name 'Echidna', but this name had been used for some moray eels.
 
Chlidonias said:
just to be annoying (;)), there are also Platypus Beetles. If you were talking to an entomologist and said "I wish I could see a platypus" he might entirely misunderstand you and pull out his collection of Platypus, expecting gasps of appreciation - only to be met with confused silence.
Click to expand...

Some of us would actually appreciate to see a Platypus. :D I guess Austroplatypus counts too, and then we have one the most interesting weevils with their fascinating eucosocial behaviour.
 
jayjds2 said:
Which is a perfectly valid name, down to the subspecies level: Suricata suricatta hahni.
Click to expand...

The entire species is from Southwest Africa, so it makes sense, though I've never seen any other facility, documentary or book use it.

I have seen a few zoos list their meerkats as that subspecies (Suricata suricatta hahni) in the past, but not anymore. The synonymous name, Suricata suricatta suricatta, is replacing hahni, just to add to the confusion.. :rolleyes::p
 
Ashanti said:
The entire species is from Southwest Africa, so it makes sense, though I've never seen any other facility, documentary or book use it.

I have seen a few zoos list their meerkats as that subspecies (Suricata suricatta hahni) in the past, but not anymore. The synonymous name, Suricata suricatta suricatta, is replacing hahni, just to add to the confusion.. :rolleyes::p
Click to expand...
Sorry to bump up this old thread, but I recently found out my home zoo (Capron Park) lists the meerkats on the website as Suricata suricatta hanhi. Would this subspecies technically be S.s.suricatta? Because I was looking it up and found no evidence the hanhi subspecies exists. And are any of the meerkats in the US actually subspecific? Or is this a case of a mislabeled subspecies?
 
Chlidonias said:
just to be annoying (;)), there are also Platypus Beetles. If you were talking to an entomologist and said "I wish I could see a platypus" he might entirely misunderstand you and pull out his collection of Platypus, expecting gasps of appreciation - only to be met with confused silence.
Click to expand...
As mentioned in David Attenborough's "Life on earth", book.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top