Earlier today my colleague emailed me with a sighting of Latin in a new animated film of the stop-action variety called "Fantastic Mr. Fox." I know almost nothing about this film, but I decided to look for the Latin Roll Call and found it. Mr. Fox decides to call all the animals hiding out in his home by their binomial nomenclature, their Latin genus and species names. I love these two anglicized Latin words, because knowing the Latin words makes so clear how the two-named system works. The genus (Latin for "kind, sort, race") is the general kind of animal (or plant), and the species (Latin for "appearance") is the specific sort, usually based on its appearance. Among the animals listed in the roll call are the mole (talpa europea), rabbit (oryctolagus cuniculus), weasel (mustela nivalis), beaver (castor fiber), and badger (meles meles). Of course, looking into what each of these Latin words means will take you to many interesting insights into our furry friends. In the meantime just hearing the words is a lot of fun.
