Flora & Fauna of Mesoamerica
FLORA OF MIDDLE AMERICA (PLANTS)
The significance of agriculture to
civilization is that with the benefits of agriculture (you can feed
more people, and they don't have to go as far to get
fed), new problems are created which often
lead in their solutions, to civilization. In
Mesoamerica agricultural problems arose between
25OO and l5OO B.C.
Problems: a) land ownership and
land use problems (the distribution of
the
people on the land).
b) population increase:
problems of social organization
maintenance of social organization.
c) sedentary life: necessitates new behavioral patterns
d) problem of
economic distribution
e) harvest problems: a storage system needed
l. what to store it in
2. how to protect it from insects, rodents and
spoilage
3. managerial: how much to store? how much to use?
how to use it--ritual vs. food--and saving seed to plant.
f) continuity of systems for solving the problems.
Agriculture
is apparently a prerequisite for civilization.
Is New World agriculture borrowed from
the
Old World? (Old World agriculture arose around 9,000 BCE; New World agriculture
arose about
5,000
BCE.)
If
agriculture develops naturally as a result of a certain combination of
conditions
that
lead unavoidably to it, then it probably arose independently in the Old and the
New Worlds.
There
are some common conditions in Old and New World agricultural centers:
l) both are areas of great diversity
2)
the first developments took place in the hilly flanks areas
3)
both have sufficient rainfall for crops (without need for irrigation)
4)
seed crops existed wild in both areas
Agriculture
differences:
Old world New World
wheat, barley maize,
amaranth
plow agriculture digging stick (dibble, coa)
powerful beasts of burden (oxen) no
powerful beast of burden
Plants found early in Old and New
Worlds:
Maize (corn-Zea mays)
native to New World: probably domesticated in Mesoamerica first; maize once
thought
to be a cross between Tripsacum
and a now extinct pod-popcorn (per Mangelsdorf), but now
seen
(by Iltis and others) as derived from teosinte / teocentli [seen
on left in picture] through selection
by
humans.
Maize is domesticated; i.e. dependent on
human intervention for its propagation, and the varieties of
maize
developed by the Indians of Middle America include several different colors and
fall into five main
classes;
flint, dent, flour, pop, and sweet.
Researchers have found the earliest evidence ever of domesticated maize in the Mexican Central Balsas River Valley. The evidence points to an 8,700 year old origin for domesticated maize. Pollen and charcoal found in lake sediments in the area showed forests were being cut down and burned to create agricultural plots 7,000 years ago. Then the researchers studied caves where people lived earlier in the area. Tools for grinding corn were found that have been radiocarbon dated to 8,700 years ago. Maize starch was found in the crevices of almost all of the tools unearthed. The previous earliest date posited for domesticated maize was 1,100 years later.
Maize dates to 6,000 to 7,000 years ago near Mitla,
Oaxaca, and 4000 to 6000 years ago in the basin
of Mexico. Maize cobs dated at 5050 years ago have been
found in Tehuacan Valley caves (Puebla,
Mexico).
A date of 3650 BCE (later revised towards the present) is
associated with a find of a primitive pod
popcorn in Bat Cave (New
Mexico).
In Assam, the Naga hills people cultivate a very primitive
variety of maize, and in China, maize is said
to have been used to pay
taxes within 60 years of the “discovery” of America by Columbus. Maize may
have been already
established in the Philippines when Magellan landed there [1521 CE].
It is in Middle America that maize, as the basis for the diet
of most Indian groups, provides by its life
cycle, the rhythm for Indian
life and religion. More than once an
Indian revolt has fizzled on the brink
of success because planting
time arrived. Only in Mesoamerica,
where maize is processed through
nixtamalization (cooking in lime
[calcium hydroxide] and/or ash [potassium hydroxide]), was maize
able to provide the vital
niacin to prevent pellagra, along with other nutrients, to eliminate some
mycotoxins, and improve the
flavor.
Peanut (Arachis hypogaea)
A new
world plant, perhaps first used by humans in South America, but,
like the pineapple, it
spread from there to Mesoamerica very early.
The peanut, now cultivated so
extensively in Africa (our
word goober comes from a Bantu language of Africa [from the word guba]),
is reported by usually
reliable authorities to have been present in China about 2000 BCE. Regardless,
there is little doubt about
its status as a New World plant.
Interestingly, the individual little yellow peanut
flower lasts for only one
day.
Bottle
Gourd -
Lagenaria Native to the Old
World, with a dispersion center most probably in Africa,
the bottle gourd is found in
the New World very early (e.g. at the Huaca Prieta site in Peru it is dated by
C-l4 to 23OO BC. It has been dated to 7000 CE in Guila
Naquitz, Oaxaca).
Cotton There are wild cottons in both Old and New World. Domesticated cotton is found by at least
3OOO BC in the New World
(Tehuacan valley) and by 2500 BCE in the Old World, but New World
cultivated cotton is
apparently a hybrid between Old World domesticate and New World wild.
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas) Mexican name camote (from
Nahuatl). Native American domesticate,
but cultivated in Polynesia
for a long time. Compare these terms
for the sweet potato: Ecuadorian
Quichua
(Chinchasuyu dialect of
Quechua– Brand in Riley et al 1971:360)
kumar; Cañari of Ecuador komal;
Nahuatl kamotli . Polynesian dialects kumala, kumala and cognate forms in
the Pacific;
Add to this Malagasy
(Madagascar) kambar 'yam'; Bengali kamalu 'yam'; Telegu (S.
India) kumara 'yam';
Malay kemahang 'wild
yam'; Korean koguma 'sweet
potato'.
The above plants are some of
the problem plants that have been used as evidence in the
controversy surrounding the
question of possible Old World - New World contacts in pre-Columbian
times.
The following
food plants are native to the New World, and many to Mesoamerica:
Beans - (mostly Phaseolus
vulgaris, but also other types, including jack beans, runner beans,
kidney beans [habichuelas], lima
beans [habas] ). Extremely
important source of vegetable protein in
Mesoamerica. Called frijoles in Mesoamerica,
generically beans are known as habichuelas in the Caribbean.
Squash – (Cucurbita
spp.) several types including pumpkin
squash and other large, ripe
squashes (calabaza
, calabaza
2, calabaza
3), summer squash [e.g. yellow crookneck, zucchini] (calabazita),
and melon squash (chilacayote).
Avocado – (Persea
spp.) many different varieties, from
smooth to stringy, large to tiny, tasty to
bland. First domesticated in the Chiapas-Guatemala
highlands. Tree
gets large. Sp. aguacate .
For more information.
Sapotes / Zapotes- (from Nahuatl zapotl 'fleshy sweet fruit') These are the fruits of
several
different plant genera. There are red
sapotes [mamey – Pouteria mammosa], black zapotes
[Diospyros digyna],
white zapotes [Casimiroa
edulis], and yellow
zapotes [Pouteria campechiana]; all are sweet.
Black zapote (Diospyros
digyna), named zapote negro or zapote prieto in Spanish, is a
species of persimmon, named
"turkey excrement" in some Mayan languages, due to the color and
texture of
the fruit, which is eaten by
people out of hand when ripe. When
unripe the fruit is astringent, caustic, and
bitter, and is ground up and
used as a temporary fish poison. The
fruit looks a little like the Texas persimmon
only larger, and has about
twice the vitamin C of an orange. The
fruit and when ripe has been used as a
dye. The leaves are made
into a decotion to treat ringworm and itching skin conditions.
White zapote
(Casimiroa edulis, C. sapota), zapote blanco or matazano
or matasano in Spanish,
its seeds and to a lesser extent the flesh of the fruit are known to have sedative and other medicinal
properties.
Red
zapote ( Pouteria sapota, pouteria mammosa), mamey colorado,
zapote colorado, mamey
zapote, or just zapote, this
delicious fruit is eaten as picked or made into marmalade.
Yellow zapote (Pouteria
campechiana) (not to be confused with Mammea Americana,
known as
mamey, mamey amarillo, or zapote
de niño, the juicy yellow fruit is eaten while the juice and seeds are used
as
an insecticide.
Green
zapote (Pouteria viridis), zapote injerto or injerto verde,
and raxtul in Guatemala
(from the Quiché Maya). Found mostly in Guatemala. Sweet and juicy.
Chicozapote (Manilkara zapota) (Sp. sapodilla)- fruit of the tall
hardwood tree from which the
chicle in our chewing gum
comes (cf. the Nahuatl word tziktli 'chewing gum'), very sweet.
Caoba (Swietenia
macrophylla) This is the tree
that we know as mahogany. Also called
chakalte’(red tree), this giant
hardwood tree is rapidly disappearing.
In the late 1800s began the cutting of these trees
in Tabasco and then
Chiapas. Slow to rot, the wood is used
for boats and drums.
Papaya
- this fruit is used as
a meat tenderizer as well as to eat.
Perhaps originally from
Colombia or Central
America. It is a cauliflorous tree. It will bear clusters of 30 or more
fruits (of up to 25 pounds
each) directly from the trunk of the l0 to l5 foot tall "tree". Papaya plants
develop to their full size
in less than a year. The papaya seeds
(as well as the milky juice in the stalks,
leaves, and unripe fruits)
are used as a worm remedy. A piece of
papaya leaf placed on a sore will promote
rapid healing, through the
action of its "meat tenderizing" enzymes; and mashed papaya fruit is
used to
treat skin blemishes.
Granadilla
(fruit
of the passion flower vine, Passiflora
ligularis, P.
quadrangularis and other
species). Flower supposed to
have religious significance (lO petals for the lO apostles, 5 anthers for
5 wounds, 3 stigmas for 3
nails). Fruit is delicious.
Giant Splitleaf
"philodendron" (Monstera deliciosa)
a house plant here, which is actually a
jungle/rainforest plant of
Middle America, that bears a large, tasty, sweet, pineapple-like edible fruit.
Annona
- tropical rainforest trees (Annona cherimola and related
species) give fruits called
custard apple, anona, guanabana, cherimoya, sweetsop,
atemoya, sugar apple (see J. Morton's
Annonaceae on the index page
of Fruits of
Warm Climates for more detail on the different species of
Annona).
Guava -
widely cultivated tree; fruit is often full of worms, which add protein to
them. Several
medicinal uses for the
plant. (Sp.
guayabo 'guava tree', guayaba 'guava fruit')
Cacao
– (Theobroma cacao)
come from the large fruits
of the Cacao tree, hanging
directly from the trunk (ie.
it is cauliflorous)
brown beans taken from the pulp of the fruit and sun dried.
Cacao beans were used for
money in Mesoamerica from the earliest times, and also by the Aztecs.
Also used for a refreshing
beverage (by 600 BC) to which other vegetable products were added
(e.g. corn meal,
vanilla). Recent discoveries of
theobromine in ceramic vessels dating to 1100 BC
suggest the use of cacao
beer (fermented cacao pulp) later leading to discovery of the chocolate taste
from the beans (because of
the fermentation required in the process.
The name 'chocolate' is said to
derive from the Maya term
for hot water (chocol + ha'),
or from the Aztec term for 'water beaten with
a stick' or 'beater drink' (chikol-atl). Cacao was also used medicinally.
Cacao flowers
sprouting from the trunk are of some interest for their delicate beauty.
Pineapple-
a terrestrial bromeliad (Ananas comosus), related to our ball
moss and to Spanish
moss, the pineapple probably
originated in lowland South America, but was brought to Middle America
very early.
Chayote- (Sechium edule)
a useful vine, related to squash and gourd--gives edible root (cueza)
and edible fruit (chayote),
as well as edible flowers. Comes in both spiny and non-spiny
varieties.
Fruit is boiled like
potatoes, and tastes something like the potato.
Chile /
chili pepper-
(Capsicum species) many different varieties, with many different
degrees
of "hot". Known as chile in Mesoamerica, and aji
in the Caribbean.
Husk tomato – (Physalis
ixocarpa , Sp. tomatillo ) a little green tomato
(or can have purple, or
yellow colored skin); strong
taste, good for making sauces (salsa verde), or eaten raw when ripe.
Yam (Dioscorea)
most true yams in Mexico and Guatemala are famine foods only. They
contain saponins (hemolytic
proteins) and need to be thoroughly cooked before eating in order to
prevent the skin from
getting huge bruises (or worse).
Sweet manioc
(Manihot esculenta) root is eaten. Tastes sort of like potatoes.
Called yuca
in many parts of Latin
America, and should not be confused with the yucca plant.
Chipilín (Crotalaria longirostrata) leafy vegetable found in southern
Mesoamerica.
Leaves can be boiled and
served green, dried and used as an herb, or added to tamale doughs for color
and flavor.
The plant is a nitrogen
fixer.
Elephant
ears (Xanthosoma spp.) Leaves
look like elephant ears; the root
is eaten, tasting sort of
like potatoes. Spanish, malanga, tarabundí, mafafa,
or yautía
Potato -
native to Peru, came relatively late to Middle America; Never very important in
the Middle
American indigenous diet.
Amaranth- "sacred
grain of the Aztecs", it was almost eradicated by the Spaniards (who
called
it bledos). Small tasty grains, made into cakes for
bloodletting and other rituals (in the past).
Now sometimes called ajonjolí
(literally 'sesame') the grains are often toasted and popped (like popcorn)
and mixed with honey to make
a tasty candy. In Indigenous
communities the leaves of this plant are eaten
like spinach.
Ramon
tree – [Brosimum
alicastrum] The fruit of the Ramon is ground up and used as a
maize substitute in the
making of tortillas. This tree grows well where maize grows, so
Lacandón
maize farmers plant their maize where the Ramon tree
is found to be growing. Either of these
facts might account for the Huastecs calling the Ramon
"maize of the ancestors." Yucatecs built huge
bottle-shaped underground
chambers (called chultun) in the lime-stone bedrock that may have been
used to
store Ramon nuts. Currently in the US it is sold as a
nutritious coffee substitute made from the ground and
roasted seeds, and is called
mojo [you can buy it at Wheatsville coop].
Tomato- (Solanum lycopersicum) native to Peru, but reached Middle America
quite
early, and used in many
foods, particularly in tasty sauces. Unusual variety is the Zapotec tomato.
Tree tomato - (Cyphomandra
betacea / Solanum betaceum) native to Peru; arrived early in
Mesoamerica. Grown at medium altitudes. Known as tomate de arbol or kaxlan pix
. Also known as
tamarillo.
Hog
Plum (Spondias mombin, S. purpurea). One of several kinds
of Mesoamerican plums, has
plentiful fruit, avidly
sought by humans and animals alike.
The purple mombin is preferable to the
yellow. Resin from S. mombin is used as glue, bark
used for tanning and dyeing (because of tannin
content), and young leaves
cooked as greens.
Prickly pear- (Opuntia
sp.) tasty fleshy fruits called tuna, the leaves (nopal) are
sliced and
eaten (sold as nopalitos),
often scrambled in eggs.
Pitahaya - Several
species of cactus with delicious, edible fruit
(e.g. Stenocereus
thurberi,
Hylocereus
polyhizus, Stenocereus
gummosus, Stenocereus eruca). The Seri of Sonora make much
use of several pitahaya species (including, pitahaya agria (the sour pitahaya, Machaerocereus gummosus)
and
pitahaya dulce (the sweet pitahaya, Lemaireocereus thurberi). One species is marketed in the U.S. as
'dragon fruit' (of the genus
Hylocereus).
Vanilla
– (Vanilla planifolia ) the bean of an tropical orchid vine native to
Veracruz, Mexico.
In 1520 one of Cortes' men,
Bernal Diaz del Castillo ,noticed that Montezuma drank his hot chocolate
(made with cacao beans and
ground maize and honey) flavored with tlilxochitl (ground black
vanilla
pods; literally 'black
flower' in Nahuatl – though the flower itself is actually greenish yellow).
Achiote
- seeds from the Bixa orellana tree- red dye used as food
coloring and for skin coloring
and also as flavoring for
beans and some other foods (it has also been called bija, bijol, annatto,
urucu
and roucou elsewhere
in Latin America). (the big picture)
Indigo - (Indigofera
suffruticosa ) source for the
beautiful color known as "Maya Blue" in
decorated ceramics of the
Maya. Became a major commercial crop
(for the dye) during colonial period.
Tobacco - Nicotiana tabacum is the main cigarette and cigar
tobacco. It is also used in powder
form and mixed with lime
(calcium oxide from ashes or heated limestone or shells) for “chewing” (i.e.
placed in the mouth and left
in the cheek for a time).More potent native tobaccos (Nicotiana rustica,
N.
glauca),
called piciete or pilico in Spanish, are also employed in various
indigenous communities.
Datura
(jimson weed). Datura strammonium, D. inoxia used
in California and N.W. Mexico
for puberty ceremonies.
Peyote (Lophophora
williamsi) a spineless cactus, causes visions, allays hunger and
thirst,
assists one’s sense of
balance and puts off tiredness. Used
today by Huichols and Tarahumara.
Here's a recent Huichol yarn painting
depicting peyote, and a painted
stone.
Psilocybe - one of
several genera of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Most often associated with
Mazatecs, but also known to
be used among Zapotecs, Mixe, Nahuatl speakers and others.
Ololiuhqui -
recently identified as (Ipomoea tricolor), relative of the
morning glory whose
hallucinogenic seeds were
important to the Aztecs (long thought to be Rivea corymbosa).
Ska Maria (Salvia
divinorum) - a sage (in the Mint family), propogated vegetatively
(i.e. apparently
domesticated), employed by Mazatec healers to ascertain the cause of an
illness.
Coral Bean - Erythrina sps. - red seeds
used in divination and for protective necklaces.
Its flowers are used to make
whistles, accounting for the Spanish term pito as a name for the tree.
Mountain Laurel
- Sophora secundiflora (now
Calia secundiflora) - called the mescal bean,
one of the oldest
hallucinogens whose use is documented.
Dangerous to eat (one bean can cause death
of a child), its presumed use
by North American Indians supposedly gave way to the safer peyote.
Agave (of
the Amaryllis family): the century plant is of the genus Agave.
Agaves include the true
maguey, so important in Mesoamerica, particularly for pre-Columbian alcohol
production. Large fields of the
plant can be seen in many parts of Mexico.
Maguey (Agave americana),
from which we get pulque, tequila, needles and thread, and edible
flowers. After about l0 years a
maguey plant sends up a thick
flower stalk--reaching about 20 feet high.
Before the flower stalk
forms, however, the thick center bud can be cut from the plant, leaving a cavity
that receives great
quantities of saps meant for the stalk. This sap is sucked out daily
for a couple of months
(several quarts a day), and
is called aguamiel. Then it is
fermented into pulque. Distilled, this
becomes
mezcal and tequila). The young stalks are sweet and can also be
cut and roasted for food. Likewise
when the leaves are cut off,
the “hearts”
are roasted in pits and eaten.
Henequen
(another species of agave) is planted in dry tropical areas by the acre (e.g. in
Quintana Roo, Yucatan), and
from it comes sisal fiber. It is
important, both economically and
because many Indians
were displaced from their home areas and brought to the henequen plantations
Lechuguilla is the common agave of the
northern deserts. It is a source of ixtle
fiber.
Guamuchil (Pithecellobium dulce) Also
called pinsón. Mimosaceae family
– In May and June
it produces edible
fruit/seedpods. Found in deciduous tropical
forest region, near water. A medicinal
tea
can be made from
its leaves.
Spineless Yucca
- (Yucca elephantipes) - houseplant sold in local nurseries. Also called "giant
yucca". Takes dry conditions and can stand low
light.
Ceiba
(Ceiba pentandra and other species) - the kapok tree, or
silk-cotton tree. This is the
sacred tree of the Mayans, often
depicted as a tree having hundreds of breasts.
It grows to more
than lOO feet. When young its
green trunk has many large and sharp spines. The green trunk accounts
for the Maya name yax-te' ('green tree') for the ceiba. The greenish-yellow
flowers develop into large seed
pods full of white fibers (kapok) once used to
fill sleeping bags. Some ancient Maya jade earflares
were carved to resemble the
ceiba flower.
Ahuehuete - (Taxodium
mucronatum) this is the Montezuma Baldcypress, relative of the
baldcypress found in Austin
along Town Lake and elsewhere along rivers and creeks. The one at
El Tule
in the valley of Oaxaca is Mexico's most famous tree. It is supposed to be more than 2,000 years
old, with a girth of 178
feet.
Copal - the trees (from several
different genera and species) from which the incense widely
used In Mesoamerica comes
(i.e. from the sap of the trees). Bursera, Protium, Pinus, etc.
Marigold- (Tagetes erecta) flor de muerto, the "flower of the
dead" used at funerals and during
Todos Santos in Mesoamerica. It has yellow flowers and exudes material with
insecticidal properties.
A close relative of this
flower (Tagetes lucida) has a strong anise scent and is used as a
substitute for
tarragon. Both species have a chemical component,
tagetone, that is mildly biotoxic.
Flor
de Mayo - Frangipani, the
sacred flower of the Maya, the red and the white species of
Plumeria (rubra
and alba)
represent the sun and the moon respectively in Maya thought and imagery.
The flowers are strongly and
beautifully scented.
Jagua (Genipa americana), also called genipa
or tapaculo. Tree to 60' tall, gives
edible fruits.
Fruit pulp eaten fresh or
made into deserts, syrups, wine and jam.
When green the fruit
gives a yellow
or white juice that
gradually turns very dark blue and is used to dye hair or clothes, or for body
painting
(especially in South
America). Fruit extracts used to treat
rheumatism, liver ailments, and asthma.
Fruit pulp also used as a
dental anesthetic. Green fruit,
scraped, treats itching.
Algarrobo
(Prosopis spp.; Hymenaea courbaril) This tree is a relative
of the mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa)
that we have here in Austin. In
northern Mexico and
the US southwest the name algarrobo refers usually
to the mesquite (or to a close relative
that may attain 60' in height). Elsewhere in Mexico and farther south the term is more likely
to refer to the Hymenaea (also called guapinol
or jatoba,
or stinking toe), a tree that can
attain 130' in height. The Hymenaea courbaril has large seed pods with
edible pulp surrounding
the seeds, that smells bad but tastes good. The resin is used for incense and the wood
for tool
handles. Bark,
resin and leaves are all used medicinally.
In Spain the name refers to the
carob tree, which also has large seed pods with edible
material surrounding the seeds. The
name comes from the Arabic term for the carob
(becoming clear when one breaks it up into
its component forms
al + garrob + o
).
Dahlia
- the national flower of Mexico and a common garden flower in the U.S.
Zinnia - also native to
Mesoamerica, a common garden flower in the U.S. now.
Poinsettia
- native to Mesoamerica, this is a member of the Euphorbia (spurge) family, many
members of which have a
milky juice that is biotoxic.
Shellflower
(a kind of iris) - Tigridia pavonia – The flower is beautiful,
and the bulb, roasted
and eaten by Aztecs and
Mayans tastes kind of like sweet potato.
Sensitive-plant
- Mimosa pudica
- the touch-me-not plant, native to
tropical areas of the
world, this plant responds
to touch by rapidly closing up its leaves.
Its movement is much more rapid than
that of our own Neptunia lutea or
our Schrankia
uncinata. It is a relative of
the mesquite (i.e. in the bean
family (Fabaceae).
Iron Cross Plant - (Oxalis
deppei) tasteless but edible
bulblike root, and the leaves are also edible
too, though the oxalic acid
makes it risky to eat a lot. It is a
famine food in Mesoamerica.
Introduced food
plants, from the Old World, include:
apple, peach,
mango
(India), pomegranate (Eastern
Mediterranean), coffee (Africa) [not in Mexico
until after 1800 –
introduced from Jamaica], wheat, rice,
barley, sorghum, oats,
sugarcane (Africa),
onions, beets,
garlic, turnips, carrots,
cabbage, eggplant, lettuce, mulberry, orange, lemon,
lime, sweet lime, tamarind (Africa – by way of India – name comes from Arabic)
[introduced into Mexico
in 1600’s], banana (some
varieties may be prehispanic,
but not native to New World –
origin in
Indo-Malaysian region extending
to northern Australia).
(see Julia Morton's Fruits of Warm
Climates)
(see Purdue's crop index
)
(see Economic
Botany writeups)
Introduced
non-food plants (some come from other parts of New World):
tree tobacco (Argentina), angels trumpet / tree datura / florapondio [Brugmansia sp.] (Peru),
castor bean, eucalyptus (Australia), oleander [Nerium oleander]
(Mediterranean),
bougainvillea (Brazil), Jacaranda (Brazil), Orchid Tree [Bauhinia purpurea.]
(India),
royal poinciana
(Madagascar), Bamboo (Asia), African tulip tree (Africa),
noni [Morinda citrifolia]
(Polynesia).
Plant Pictures:
http://www.jardin-mundani.com/index.htm photos alphabetically by binomial name
SOME FAUNA OF MIDDLE AMERICA (ANIMALS)
Harpy
eagle - large, powerful, grey and white eagle; crested. Referenced in Indian folklore and
also in art.
Scarlet
Macaw - the largest and most conspicuous parrot of Middle America, from
tropical
lowland areas; called mo?
in several Mayan languages.
Quetzal
- one of 8 species of trogons living in Mexico and Guatemala. The quetzal is famous
for long green tail and
showy plumage.
Curassow
– (Crax rubra) large edible
pheasant-like bird
Chicken - George F Carter considers the evidence in "Pre-Columbian
Chickens in America"
(in Man
Across the Sea, edited by Riley et al 1971.
pp. 178-218), concluding that chickens in America
were
more likely present in the New world before Columbus, and that they were more
likely to have been
introductions
of Asiatic fowl (but by way of Polynesia, and to South America). There is some linguistic
evidence
for Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chickens.
Fer-de-lance - 6 to 8 feet long,
aggressive pit viper w/ neurotoxic venom.
Called "four-nose"
or "twenty-bat"
in indigenous languages.
Boa Constrictor lO
to l2 feet long - often allowed to live in the thatch of Yucatec Maya houses as
semi-pets, because they eat
rats and mice. Not as big as the 983
lb., 49' long python
from Indonesia,
a
news story later regarded as
innacurately
reported.
Raccoon
Family includes the raccoon, but also has the coati or coatimundi
(from a Brazilian word),
known in Mexico as a tejon
or pisote. The coati has a long
nose and long, non-prehensile tail.
Makes a good
pet and is fun to
watch. The cacomixtle
is nocturnal and lives in the highlands--also called the ring-tailed cat.
The kinkajou or mico
de noche (Potos flavus) is a cuddly, small,
arboreal, nocturnal, tropical, almost
monkey-like animal. Sometimes known in Mexico as marta or
martucha, and in U.S. as honey bear.
Pig family
- includes the collared
peccary (jabali, javelina) - from dry plateaus to
tropical
lowlands--can become quite
aggressive; and the white
lipped peccary (senso), from the jungles of Veracruz,
Chiapas, Tabasco, and
Yucatan.
Cat
family - includes the jaguar
(7 feet or more, 250 lbs.), ocelot (4 feet, 35
lbs, looks like
a jaguar), Jaguarundi
(3-4 feet long, looks like small puma), margay
(2-3 feet long, looks like small ocelot).
Dogs -
Native pre-Columbian dogs include the Chihuahua and the Xoloitzcuintli
(or Xolo). The
latter is hairless and used
as food or as a hot water bottle (because no hair, so no fleas, and also has
a high temperature). It sweats through its skin unlike other
dogs, and is believed in some regions to
serve as a guide for human souls
in the underworld.
Monkeys
- there are 2 kinds in Middle America: the Spider monkey is
smaller (l8 inches) and
more slender, with long
arms; the Howler
monkey which is larger (33 inches) and more heavy
bodied, and whose roaring
cries echo in rain and cloud forests.
The howler is reddish brown to
black and travels in bands
in the treetops. Males have a long
"beard".
Agouti
and Paca
- large rodents hunted in tropical areas.
The Agouti (called guatusa or cotusa)
is smaller (2O inches) with
solid color, and sometimes feeds during the day. The Paca
(called tepeitzcuintli
or tepezcuintle) is larger (26 inches) and
spotted w/ bands of white spots. It is
called a gibnut in Belize.
Tapir (odd toed
ungulate; Spanish danta),
has long snout, is a vegetarian weighing up to 65O
pounds.
It is tropical, shy, over
hunted, and almost extinct.
Brocket deer (Mazama
spp., Spanish cabrito) - very small (dog size) deer, with pointed
un-branched horns like those
of a goat. Reputed to stomp poisonous
reptiles to death.
Other mammals
include: the coendu
(Mexican tree porcupine), tamandua
(Collared
anteater, oso hormiguero, chupamiel), tayra (cabeza de viejo),
and grison.
Crocodile, Caiman - Crocodiles and caymans are
found in lowland Mesoamerica, and
figure in some Mesoamerican
iconography. Alligators are found in
North America, but are absent from
Mesoamerica.
Iguana - dragonlike vegetarian lizard, serves as meat
for people who hunt them; sold in markets.
as food. Two types: the tree-living and more common
green iguana (Iguana iguana), and the groun-living
black iguana (Ctenosaura similis.).
The Basilisk lizard (Basiliscus
basiliscus) is also a kind of large iguana,
one that runs upright, and
can walk
on water.
Cane
Toad - (Bufo Marinus) also
called the giant toad, spring chicken
(Belize), marine toad,
sapo grande, sapo gigante, and sapo lechero. Poisonous secretion form paratoid glands.
Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas; Sp. tiburón) Young bull sharks (cazón) are considered
a delicacy on the Gulf coast
in the Veracruz region. They are noted
for their tendency and willingness to
enter fresh water areas,
going long distances up rivers. These
sharks are said to be very dangerous.
Alligator
Gar (Spanish peje lagarto)
A distinctive and "ancient" fish; large and with an unsual
scale pattern. Shows up in Olmec iconography.
Sting
Ray (Spanish pastinaca) - stingray
spines were used by the classic Maya as bloodletting
implements, and perhaps also
to tip arrows. There is even an alleged
stingray spine
glyph in the Maya script.
Cochineal -
small insects (Coccus cacti, Dactylopius coccus) whose
dried bodies (only the
females) make a red
dye. The insects live on Opuntia
and Nopalea cacti (prickly pears).
Aztecs called the
dye nocheztli. Spaniards called it cochinilla. Cultivated for local use and trade in
western and south-central Mexico;
it became a very important
export from Mexico and Guatemala during colonial period.
http://www.xcalak.info/visit/uk/mammels-uk.shtml some pictures of Mesoamerican mammals