Tomistoma schlegeli
- noun
- Specialized
:
Tomistoma schlegeli
- The Tomistoma schlegeli is often mistaken for the true gharial due to its elongated snout.
Examples
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The Tomistoma schlegeli is often found in freshwater habitats.
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Did you know that Tomistoma schlegeli can grow up to 4 meters long?
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Conservation efforts have been launched to protect the endangered Tomistoma schlegeli in Malaysian wetlands.
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Unlike most crocodilians, the Tomistoma schlegeli rarely poses a threat to humans.
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Conservation efforts have been launched to protect the endangered Tomistoma schlegeli in Malaysian wetlands.
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The Tomistoma schlegeli is often mistaken for the true gharial due to its elongated snout.
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Unlike most crocodilians, the Tomistoma schlegeli rarely poses a threat to humans.
Synonyms
A slender crocodile with a long narrow snout from Southeast Asia
Surface Forms
Morphology
Tomistoma + schlegeli
This is a Linnaean binomial: combining a genus name (Tomistoma) with a specific epithet signals a particular species, so a learner who knows the genus can infer it denotes a species of Tomistoma (i.e., a crocodilian). However, the epithet 'schlegeli' is a proper name with no descriptive meaning and does not allow a learner to derive species-specific traits (e.g., 'false gharial', long slender snout), so the full sense is not completely predictable.
Etymology
Tomistoma schlegeli may come from the words tomis meaning 'cut' and stoma meaning 'mouth', which gives the image of a long, thin snout like a 'cut' mouth. The second name, schlegeli, comes from the scientist Schlegel, so the full name helps you remember this long-snouted crocodile often called the 'false gharial'.
