The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science

by Armand Marie Leroi

IN HIS ZOOLOGICAL WORKS Aristotle mentions the following mammals: ailouros (cat), alōpēx (fox), arktos (bear), aspalax (Mediterranean mole), arouraios mys (field mouse), bous/tauros (oxen), dasypous/lagos (hare), ekhinos (hedgehog), elaphos/prox (deer), eleios (dormouse), enydris (otter), galē (beech marten), ginnos (ginny), hinnos (hinny), hippos (horse), hys (pig), hystrix (porcupine), iktis (weasel), kapros (boar), kastōr (beaver), kyōn (dog), leōn (Asian lion), lykos (wolf), lynx (lynx), mys (mouse), mygalē (water shrew), nykteris (bat), oïs/krios/probaton (sheep), onos (ass), oreus (mule), phōkē (seal), thōs (jackal), tragos/aïx/khimera (goat). All of these species are, or were, native to Greece and Asia Minor, so it is natural that he should do so. More surprisingly, the number of species that he mentions, but that are native to the Nile delta, the Libyan desert and the plains of Central Asia, is not much smaller: alōpēx (here the Egyptian fruit bat), boubalis (hartebeest), bonassos (European bison), dorkas (gazelle), elephas (elephant), hyaina/trokhos/glanos (striped hyena), hippelaphos (nilgai), hippos-potamios (hippopotamus), ichneumōn (mongoose), kēbos (monkey), kynokephalos (baboon), onos agrios/hēmionos (wild ass or onager), onos Indikos (Indian rhinoceros), oryx (oryx), panthēr/pardalis (leopard), pardion/hippardion (giraffe?), pithēkos (barbary ape), kamēlos Arabia (dromedary), kamēlos Baktrianē (Bactrian camel) – to which we can add creatures such as the ibi...