The ABC game

Idiota

Idiot as a word derived from the Greek ἰδιώτης, idiōtēs ("person lacking professional skill", "a private citizen", "individual"), from ἴδιος, idios ("private", "one's own").[1] In Latin the word idiota ("ordinary person, layman") preceded the Late Latin meaning "uneducated or ignorant person".[2] Its modern meaning and form dates back to Middle English around the year 1300, from the Old French idiote ("uneducated or ignorant person"). The related word idiocy dates to 1487 and may have been analogously modeled on the words prophet[3] and prophecy.[4][5] The word has cognates in many other languages.

An idiot in Athenian democracy was someone who was characterized by self-centeredness and concerned almost exclusively with private—as opposed to public—affairs.[6] Idiocy was the natural state of ignorance into which all persons were born and its opposite, citizenship, was effected through formalized education.[6] In Athenian democracy, idiots were born and citizens were made through education (although citizenship was also largely hereditary). "Idiot" originally referred to "layman, person lacking professional skill", "person so mentally deficient as to be incapable of ordinary reasoning". Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the polis (city state), was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters. Over time, the term "idiot" shifted away from its original connotation of selfishness and came to refer to individuals with overall bad judgment–individuals who are "stupid". According to the Bauer-Danker Lexicon, the noun ίδιωτής in ancient Greek meant "civilian" (ref Josephus Bell 2 178), "private citizen" (ref sb 3924 9 25), "private soldier as opposed to officer," (Polybius 1.69), "relatively unskilled, not clever," (Herodotus 2,81 and 7 199).[7] The military connotation in Bauer's definition stems from the fact that ancient Greek armies in the time of total war mobilized all male citizens (to the age of 50) to fight, and many of these citizens tended to fight poorly and ignorantly.

In modern English usage, the terms "idiot" and "idiocy" describe an extreme folly or stupidity, and its symptoms (foolish or stupid utterance or deed). In psychology, it is a historical term for the state or condition now called profound intellectual disability.
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too many possibilities for a pic......

interesting read.
 
To satisfy the requirements of the present topic being binomial nomenclature, I bring another 'I' subject, that being Iguana iguana, which is very simply the docile lizard of the same name.

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Jabiru mycteria - the black-necked Jabiru Stork

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a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It is most common in the Pantanal region of Brazil and the Eastern Chaco region of Paraguay. It is the only member of the genus Jabiru. The name comes from a Tupi–Guaraní language and means "swollen neck"

n.b. Jabiru mycteria ranks in the upper 40 percentile of the iguana iguana-raqueliia welchis pure animal beauty scale.

(Having trouble finding Latin binomials? try this http://www.theonlinezoo.com/pages/animals_scientific.html)
 
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(Busy doing yard work and working with horses now that warm weather has finally arrived.:) )

Kobus ellipsiprymnus, or Waterbuck.

Description

The waterbuck is the largest of the kob antelopes.[2] It is a sexually dimorphic antelope, with the males larger and heavier than the females.[4] The head-and-body length is typically between 177–235 cm (70–93 in) and the average height is between 120 and 136 cm (47 and 54 in).[6] Males reach approximately 127 cm (50 in) at the shoulder, while females reach 119 cm (47 in). Males typically weigh 198–262 kg (437–578 lb) and females 161–214 kg (355–472 lb).[7] The tail is 22–45 cm (8.7–17.7 in) long.[3]

The waterbuck is of a robust build. The shaggy coat is reddish brown to grey, and becomes progressively darker with age.[7] Though apparently thick, the hair is sparse on the coat. The hair on the neck is, however, long and shaggy. When sexually excited, the skin of the waterbuck secretes a greasy substance, giving it the name "greasy kob".[2] The face is marked with a white muzzle and light eyebrows and insides of the ears. There is a cream-coloured patch called "bib" on the throat.[3] The neck is long, while the legs are short.[6]


The long, spiral-structured horns, found only in males, sweep back and up. The first group shows a white rump patch, the second a white, ellipse-shaped ring on the rump that extends above the tail.
Habitat

Waterbuck are found in scrub and savanna areas near water, where they eat grasses. Despite their name, waterbuck do not spend much time in the water, but will take refuge there to escape predators. They are diurnal. Females gather in herds of between two and 600 individuals. Males keep territories of around 300 acres (1.2 km²) during their prime. They usually lose their territories before the age of 10.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbuck


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Ah yes, skunkus malunkus in the old and wildly unpopular Arneian classification system. You get the bonus points for a double, but what are you trying to pull with a photo of four of them!? Same bonus. It's based on whimsical lyricism, not quantity.

Norops biporcatus

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Giant Green Anole

Due to their ability to change color, anolis (anole) lizards are frequently referred to as American chameleons. Also, because they can run up walls, they are sometimes confused with geckos. They are not closely related to either of those groups and, in fact, are more closely related to iguana iguana.
 
Ovis canadensis, is one of three species of mountain sheep in North America and Siberia; the other two species being Ovis dalli, which includes Dall sheep and Stone's sheep, and the Siberian snow sheep Ovis nivicola. Wild sheep crossed the Bering land bridge from Siberia during the Pleistocene (about 750,000 years ago) and subsequently spread through western North America as far south as Baja California and northwestern mainland Mexico.[7] Divergence from their closest Asian ancestor (snow sheep) occurred about 600,000 years ago.[8] In North America, wild sheep have diverged into two extant species—Dall sheep, which occupy Alaska and northwestern Canada, and bighorn sheep, which range from southern Canada to Mexico.[9] However, the status of these species is questionable given that hybridization has occurred between them in their recent evolutionary history.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bighorn_sheep

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Pica Pica or Magpie, is a very attractive bird that is seen in a number of locations throughout the Yukon. They have a very interesting dipsy-doodle method of flight and they frequently like to follow the Gray Jays as they are making their rounds. The Gray Jays are not amused. :D

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Quinnsongia quinnsongius

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No!


I mean Quelea quelea - the Common Grackle

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The Red-billed Quelea is the world's most abundant wild bird species, with an estimated adult breeding population of 1.5 billion pairs. Some estimates of the overall population have been as large as 10 billion. The entire population is found in sub-Saharan Africa and is generally absent from deeply forested regions and the southern reaches of South Africa. It is of the weaver family Ploceidae.

These birds live and breed in huge flocks which can take up to 5 hours to fly past.They live mostly in steppe and savanna regions, but do not avoid human settlements. While foraging for food they may fly large distances each day without tiring. Their life expectancy is two to three years. Being such a considerable part of the savanna biomass, their flocks and colonies attract huge numbers and diverse types of predators and scavengers. Birds known to live extensively off of these birds include herons, storks, raptors, owls, hornbills, rollers, kingfishers, shrikes and corvids. Additionally, snakes, lizards and several types of mammals, especially rodents and small carnivores, are regular predators.

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Spermophilus beecheyi (the California Ground Squirrel)

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I actually bookmarked this one, for NMSquirrel, back when we were doing letters B or C.
I suppose 'spermophilus' means nut lover, but I think it wisest to just let that one go. :rolleyes:
 
@ Arne

Eugene is damn sexy and I will never trade him for no cough drop guy!

Regarding spermophilus I say you should delve into that a little deeper for all of the nut lovers!
 
And these guys aren't? They're line drawings, they's got a cough drop fortune, they've got bow ties, they've got beards...

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What more could any woman want?
 
Taxidae Taxus, the badger, is an amazingly tenacious critter, able to travel at speeds of up to 30 kmh for short periods and capable of fending off larger mammals such as coyotes, wolves and even bears. (We have no badgers in the southern Yukon but we do have the wolverine, a creature of similar abilities.)The lead hand referred to myself as a badger last night, for my ability to tackle the workload when needed, lol. :D

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Ursus maritimus Have you got these in the southern Yukon?

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Constantine John Phipps was the first to describe the polar bear as a distinct species in 1774. He chose the scientific name Ursus maritimus, the Latin for 'maritime bear', due to the animal's native habitat. The Inuit refer to the animal as nanook (transliterated as nanuq in the Inupiat language). The Yupik also refer to the bear as nanuuk in Siberian yupik. The bear is umka in the Chukchi language. In Russian, it is usually called бе́лый медве́дь (bélyj medvédj, the white bear), though an older word still in use is ошку́й (Oshkúj, which comes from the Komi oski, "bear"). In French, the polar bear is referred to as ours blanc ("white bear") or ours polaire ("polar bear"). In the Norwegian-administered Svalbard archipelago, the polar bear is referred to as Isbjørn ("ice bear").
 
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We do have a population of Ursus maritimus off the north coast of the Yukon.

About 2,000 polar bears live in the Beaufort Sea area off the north coast of Yukon, Alaska and the Northwest Territories. With the exception of some on-shore denning, these bears live exclusively on the sea ice.
During winter and spring, polar bears can be found at Herschel Island and along the Yukon’s north coast. In summer, these bears are out on the edge of the permanent ice pack, about 150 km north of the Yukon coast.

http://www.yesnet.yk.ca/projects/bears/facts/e/polar.html

A cross between a grizzly bear and a polar bear was identified up on the Dempster Highway some years ago.

So, Arne...

How many penguins does the average polar bear eat?
 
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