Aelian’s Testimony on the Horned Animals of India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2023.12.05Keywords:
animals in India, etymology, Greek zoological literature, horned mammals, oriental loanwords in Ancient GreekAbstract
The paper presents horned animals of India, described by Aelian in his zoological treatise On the Characteristics of Animals (De natura animalium, XV 15; XVI 20). Probably he is repeating Megasthenes’ description of the oriental animals existing in the Indian Peninsula. The present author carefully analyzes three species of animals, mentioned under their local (i.e. non-Greek) names: (1) μέσοι, (2) καρτάζωνος and (3) ὑάριναι. It is suggested that Aelian’s zoological nomenclature is of Middle Indo-Aryan origin and refers to three species of horned mammals, respectively: (1) the Ladakh urial or the wild oriental sheep (Ovis vignei Blyth, 1841); (2) the Indian rhinoceros or the greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis L., 1758); (3) the Deccan chinkara, known as the Indian gazelle and the ravine deer (Gazella bennettii Sykes, 1831).
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