ชื่อผลงานทางวิชาการ
Varanus indicus and its Presence on the Mariana Islands: Natural Geographic Distribution vs. Introduction
ชื่อนักวิจัย
หมวดหมู่ผลงาน
ประเภทผลงาน
บทคัดย่อ
The presence of Varanus indicus on the Mariana Islands has been most often regarded as a recent introduction and not a part of its natural geographic distribution. The introduction of reptile species, particularly V. indicus by the Germans before World War I and later by the Japanese on many Pacific islands, has been speculated and documented respectively (Uchida, 1969); however, there is evidence to suggest that its presence in the Mariana Islands, specifi cally on Guam, is from natural dispersal rather than a product of human introduction. It is suggested here that introduction of V. indicus in Micronesia, to include the Marianas Islands and Guam, pre-dates European presence in the region (Brown, 1956; Lever, 2003) and that it was introduced by Polynesian colonists. Lever (2003), cites both Rodda & Fritts (1992b), which does not shed light on the subject, and McCoid (1993), which was speculation on what he wrote rather than what he actually stated in writing. However, strong linguistic evidence exists that V. indicus did exist before there was a European presence in the region; there is a Chamorro (native language of the people of the Marianas) word for monitor lizard, which is ‘Hilitai’. This suggests that V. indicus was either present before the Chamorros arrived or they brought it with them. The Spanish presence on Guam and the Mariana Islands dates back to 1565. New words incorporated into the vocabulary of the Chamorro people after the arrival of the Spanish came from the Spanish or later from the Tagolog language. The only Pacifi c location where there is a European name for a monitor is on Condore Island, off the coast of Vietnam, which is ‘Iguana’ (Bayless, 2004), from what the Spanish were calling them; ‘Iguana’ typically refers to any large lizard. German, Japanese and English appear to have had no infl uence over the Chamorro language and there is no ‘Waran’ from the German or ‘Dai Tokage’ or ‘Ootokage’, from the Japanese in reference to monitor lizards. If V. indicus was introduced at all, it would have been over 400 years ago.
ชื่อวารสาร
ปีที่
2
ฉบับที่
1
หน้า
18-27
สำนักพิมพ์
International Varanid Interest Group
ปีที่พิมพ์
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