473
top 31 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Cyberbatman@lemmings.world 49 points 7 months ago

According to my Spanish friend, 1st one is a cocodrilo 2nd is a cocodrilo 3rd is also a cocodrilo 4th is a monstruo

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 39 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Fun fact about the etymology of "alligator:" When the Spanish first landed in what is now Florida, they found alligators and simply called them "el lagarto," which literally translates to "the lizard." While there were many reptiles in the swamps and bayous, only one was enough of a problem to be called "THE lizard," and after ~~several mistranslations~~ being borrowed into other languages, "el lagarto" morphed into "alligator"

Or at least that's what I read somewhere once.

[-] Canadian_Cabinet@lemmy.ca 12 points 7 months ago

We still colloquially call them lagartos, regardless if its a crocodile or alligator.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Good to know! I took years of Spanish classes and my kids are in a Spanish immersion school in California, but I've only ever heard lagarto for smaller lizards and cocodrilo for anything resembling crocodilians

Thanks for the info

[-] Canadian_Cabinet@lemmy.ca 4 points 7 months ago

Yeah lagarto literally means lizard, but we use it for pretty much any type of reptilian that looks like a lizard lol

[-] hakase@lemm.ee 9 points 7 months ago

All of this is correct, except that it's not a "mistranslation", it's a borrowing. Boundaries between words and morphemes are commonly lost in borrowing, and borrowed sounds commonly undergo adaptation as well.

[-] NielsBohron@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Thank you. Linguistics is not my field, obviously

[-] Aussiemandeus@aussie.zone 8 points 7 months ago

In the northern Territory of Australia we have no alligators. We are however famous for pur salt and fresh water crocodiles.

So whe.n Europens arrived and found this few massive rivers full of crocodiles they called them the West, South, and Aast alligator rivers.

[-] Ioughttamow@kbin.run 36 points 7 months ago

mmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[-] HopingForBetter@lemmy.today 13 points 7 months ago

Please? Please? Please, please!?

[-] gregorum@lemm.ee 12 points 7 months ago
[-] No_Eponym@lemmy.ca 5 points 7 months ago

It's time to make... my move.

[-] kshade@lemmy.world 7 points 7 months ago

I hate your whimper

[-] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 33 points 7 months ago

Way back in the day in middle America my parents got my Lil brother a pet baby cayman.

Well....it kept getting bigger. Then bigger. Then we got a book and figured out she was sold a bootleg alligator instead. Poor choices caused it to get released at a local pond. Childhood had a lot of bad choices in my family.

Fuuuuck I forgot about this

That movie scared me so much as a child, I loved it

[-] wizardbeard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 6 months ago

The Netflix prequel series is great, but they cancelled it after the first season. Fuckers.

I had that on my watch list for a while, but when I heard it was canceled I never watched it.

I was so disappointed when they canceled Mindhunter that I didn't want to subject myself to that again.

[-] lledrtx@lemmy.world 19 points 7 months ago
[-] Texas_Hangover@lemm.ee 13 points 7 months ago

CAIMAN! Ffs, its not an island.

[-] Timecircleline@sh.itjust.works 9 points 7 months ago

Crocodiles are so scrungly compared to alligators.

[-] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 7 months ago

I heard that Frank Oz operates all crocodilians.

[-] Anticorp@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

I'm pretty sure the first one is a caimen and the second might or might not be a crocodile.

[-] Landless2029@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Caiman looks the most like a dragon head. Mmm...

[-] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 4 points 7 months ago

A great guide to extant archosaurs!

[-] Aria@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 6 months ago

Am I being stupid? That's a caiman and two alligators, no? Crocodiles have forward eyes.

[-] Zugyuk@lemmy.world -5 points 7 months ago

Isn't the first one an alligator, and the third a crocodile?

[-] crawancon@lemm.ee 4 points 7 months ago
[-] venoft@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

No, I also though so at first but a quick google confirms this is right.

If you look up 'freshwater crocodile' you'll see he looks a lot like his mommy.

[-] BudgetBandit@sh.itjust.works -2 points 7 months ago

Actually yes. I think it’s written the wrong way because of the sublemmy?

[-] trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

No. Alligators have a rounded snout and only upper teeth visible. The third one is the alligator

this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2024
473 points (96.8% liked)

Science Memes

11047 readers
3599 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS