Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34895273›Full record

ArticleJournal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine2021

Species perceived to be dangerous are more likely to have distinctive local names.

Harith Farooq, Cláudio Bero, Yolanda Guilengue, Clementina Elias, Yasalde Massingue, Ivo Mucopote, Cristóvão Nanvonamuquitxo, Johan Marais, Alexandre Antonelli, Søren Faurby

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Utilising snake rescue data to understand snake-human conflict in Hooghly, West Bengal, India.Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Harith FarooqGothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden. harithmorgadinho@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9031-2785
Cláudio BeroFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Yolanda GuilengueFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Clementina EliasFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Yasalde MassingueFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Ivo MucopoteFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Cristóvão NanvonamuquitxoFaculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.
Johan MaraisAfrican Snakebite Institute, Pretoria, South Africa.
Alexandre Antonelli *Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden.
Søren Faurby *Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden.

Funding

Swedish Research Council #2017- 03862
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSpecies with direct uses, such as sources of food, shelter, building material and medicine tend to have more specific local names. But could the same apply for species that people fear?

methodsTo address this question, here we explore the behavior and perception of species diversity and dangerousness through a survey of 1037 households in nine villages in Cabo Delgado, northern Mozambique. We compare people's knowledge of snakes with that of lizards and amphibians.

resultsWe find that northern Mozambicans know four to five times more local names for snakes than for lizards and frogs, despite the local species richness of snakes being comparable to the diversity of lizards and frogs. We further find that local knowledge was on par with the academic literature regarding snakebite symptoms.

conclusionsOur results suggest that fear can increase the level of specificity in naming species among indigenous communities, which could lead to biases in the mapping and protection of species that include data from citizen reports.

Indexed as

Snake BitesSnakesAnimalsAnuraDangerous BehaviorHumansKnowledgeAmphibiansIndigenousLocal knowledgeMozambiqueReptilesSnakebiteSnakes

Identifiers

PMID34895273
PMCPMC8665639

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.