95-537: Caecilians ( / s ɪ ˈ s ɪ l i ə n / ; New Latin for 'blind ones') are a group of limbless, vermiform (worm-shaped) or serpentine (snake-shaped) amphibians with small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. They mostly live hidden in soil or in streambeds, and this cryptic lifestyle renders caecilians among the least familiar amphibians. Modern caecilians live in the tropics of South and Central America , Africa , and southern Asia . Caecilians feed on small subterranean creatures such as earthworms . The body
190-453: A broader range of courses relating to urban professions such as law and medicine. All universities required Latin proficiency, obtained in local grammar schools, to obtain admittance as a student. Throughout the period, Latin was the dominant language of university education, where rules were enforced against the use of vernacular languages. Lectures and debates took place in Latin, and writing
285-444: A dynamic for purification and ossification of Latin, and thus its decline from a more productive medieval background. Modern Neo-Latin scholars tend to reject this, as for instance word formation and even medieval uses continued; but some see a kernel of truth, in that the standards of Latin were set very high, making it hard to achieve the necessary confidence to use Latin. In any case, other factors are certainly at play, particularly
380-439: A few extinct stem-group caecilians (extinct amphibians whose closest living relatives are caecilians but are not descended from any caecilian). Some palaeontologists have used the name Gymnophiona for the total group and the old name Apoda for the crown group . However, Apoda has other even older uses, including as the name of a genus of Butterfly making its use potentially confusing and best avoided. 'Gymnophiona' derives from
475-488: A fleshy fin running along the rear section of their bodies, which enhances propulsion in water. Caecilians have small or absent eyes, with only a single known class of photoreceptors , and their vision is limited to dark-light perception. Unlike other modern amphibians (frogs and salamanders) the skull is compact and solid, with few large openings between plate-like cranial bones. The snout is pointed and bullet-shaped, used to force their way through soil or mud. In most species
570-566: A focus of Neo-Latin studies. For instance, stylistic borrowings flowed from Latin to the Dutch vernacular, where models were lacking in the latter. Atretochoana eiselti Atretochoana eiselti is a species of caecilian originally known only from two preserved specimens discovered by Sir Graham Hales in the Brazilian rainforest, while on an expedition with Sir Brian Doll in the late 1800s, but rediscovered in 2011 by engineers working on
665-414: A high level in international conferences until the mid twentieth century. Over time, and especially in its later phases after its practical value had severely declined, education that included strong emphasis on Latin and Greek became associated with elitism and as a deliberate class barrier for entry to educational institutions. Post-classical Latin, including medieval, Renaissance and Neo-Latin, makes up
760-454: A high standard. Even in this period, an excessive focus on grammar and poor teaching methods were seen by reformers as a barrier to the acquisition of Latin. Comenius for instance was credited with significant attempts to make Latin more accessible through use of parallel Latin and native language texts, and more interesting through acquisition of vocabulary and the use of modern and more relevant information in texts. Others worried whether it
855-531: A hydroelectric dam project in Brazil. Until 1998, it was known only from the type specimen in the Naturhistorisches Museum , Vienna. Originally placed in the genus Typhlonectes in 1968, it was reclassified into its own monotypic genus, Atretochoana , in 1996. It was also found to be more closely related to the genus Potamotyphlus than Typholonectes . The species is the largest of
950-687: A kind of bridge of communication across religious as well as linguistic divides in the Res Publica Litterarum . One exception to the general rule of vernacular services in Protestant countries can be observed in the Anglican Church , where with the publication of the Book of Common Prayer of 1559, a Latin edition was published in 1560 for use in universities such as Oxford and the leading grammar and " public schools " (in
1045-550: A longer period. In Poland, it was used as a vehicle of local government. This extended to those parts of Poland absorbed by Germany. Latin was used as a common tongue between parts of the Austrian Empire, particularly Hungary and Croatia, at least until the 1820s. Croatia maintained a Latin poetry tradition through the nineteenth century. Latin also remained the language of the Catholic Church and of oral debate at
SECTION 10
#17327763872291140-501: A maternal vent. Among the species investigated, the oviparous nonmammalian caecilian amphibian Siphonops annulatus stood out, indicating that the practice of lactation may be more widespread among these creatures than previously thought. As detailed in a 2024 study, researchers collected 16 mothers of the Siphonops annulatus species from cacao plantations in Brazil's Atlantic Forest and filmed them with their altricial hatchlings in
1235-474: A number of other features associated with lunglessness, including sealed choanae , and an absence of pulmonary arteries . Its skin is filled with capillaries that penetrate the epidermis , allowing gas exchange. Its skull shows evidence of muscles not found in any other organism. The Vienna specimen of Atretochoana is a large caecilian at a length of 72.5 cm (28.5 in), while the Brasília specimen
1330-550: A public display. There, it was noticed by the visiting English herpetologist Mark Wilkinson, who then borrowed the specimen to examine it with his American colleague Ronald A. Nussbaum. Examination of the specimen showed it to have a number of unusual features, including the large number of splenial teeth observed by Taylor, but most unusually, closed choanae , which showed it could not fill any lungs it might have. Because of these and other distinctive features, Nussbaum and Wilkinson gave this species its own genus when they reported on
1425-476: A purified Classical Latin vocabulary. Recent study tends to identify a style of Latin that was closer to Classical Latin in grammar, sometimes influenced by vernaculars in syntax especially in more everyday writing, but eclectic in choice of vocabulary and generation of new words. Some authors including C. S. Lewis have criticised the Neo-Latin and classicising nature of humanistic Latin teaching for creating
1520-428: A secondary development, and the two groups are most likely unrelated. Scales are absent in the families Scolecomorphidae and Typhlonectidae , except the species Typhlonectes compressicauda where minute scales have been found in the hinder region of the body. The skin also has numerous ring-shaped folds, or annuli, that partially encircle the body, giving them a segmented appearance. Like some other living amphibians,
1615-399: A significant portion of printed works until the early nineteenth century. In Neo-Latin's most productive phase, it dominated science, philosophy, law, and theology, and it was important for history, literature, plays, and poetry. Classical styles of writing, including approaches to rhetoric, poetical metres, and theatrical structures, were revived and applied to contemporary subject matter. It
1710-415: A strong hydrostatic force that lengthens the body. This muscle system allows the animal to anchor its hind end in position, and force the head forwards, and then pull the rest of the body up to reach it in waves. In water or very loose mud, caecilians instead swim in an eel-like fashion. Caecilians in the family Typhlonectidae are aquatic, and the largest of their kind. The representatives of this family have
1805-457: A strong role in education and writing in early colonial Mexico, Brazil and in other parts of Catholic Americas. Catholicism also brought Latin to India, China and Japan. Neo-Latin began in Italy with the rise of Renaissance Latin and humanist reform of Latin education, then brought to prominence in northern Europe by writers such as Erasmus , More , and Colet . Medieval Latin had been
1900-473: A wider audience using the same ideas with more practical applications. Over time, the use of Latin continued where international communication with specialist audiences was paramount. Later, where some of the discourse moved to French, English or German, translations into Latin would allow texts to cross language boundaries, while authors in countries with much smaller language populations or less known languages would tend to continue to compose in Latin. Latin
1995-502: Is cylindrical and often darkly coloured, and the skull is bullet-shaped and strongly built. Caecilian heads have several unique adaptations, including fused cranial and jaw bones, a two-part system of jaw muscles, and a chemosensory tentacle in front of the eye. The skin is slimy and bears ringlike markings or grooves and may contain scales. Modern caecilians are a clade , the order Gymnophiona / ˌ dʒ ɪ m n ə ˈ f aɪ ə n ə / (or Apoda / ˈ æ p ə d ə / ), one of
SECTION 20
#17327763872292090-498: Is from a natural to stylised word order. Unlike medieval schools, however, Italian Renaissance methods focused on Classical models of Latin prose style, reviving texts from that period, such as Cicero's De Inventione or Quintilian 's Institutio Oratoria . Teaching of specific, gradually harder Latin authors and texts followed rhetorical practice and learning. In Italy, during the medieval period, at different periods, Classical and Christian authors competed for attention, but
2185-603: Is larger still at 80.5 cm (31.7 in). By comparison, caecilians in general range in length from 11 to 160 cm (4.3 to 63.0 in). Although it is not a snake , it has been called various common names in the media such as "penis snake", "man-aconda", and "floppy snake", owing to its visual similarity to the human penis . The specimen in the Vienna museum was known only to have originated from somewhere in South America, at least before 1945, most likely in
2280-406: Is much smaller than the right one, an adaptation to body shape that is also found in snakes. Their trunk muscles are adapted to pushing their way through the ground, with the vertebral column and its musculature acting as a piston inside the outer layer of the body wall musculature, which is closely attached to the skin. By contracting the outer layer of muscles it squeezes the coelom and generates
2375-565: Is seen as a vital context for understanding the vernacular cultures in the periods when Latin was in widespread productive use. Additionally, Classical reception studies have begun to assess the differing ways that Classical culture was understood in different nations and times. Classicists use the term "Neo-Latin" to describe the Latin that developed in Renaissance Italy as a result of renewed interest in classical civilization in
2470-449: Is the name of a genus of moth, and its continued use in caecilian taxonomy is potentially confusing and unhelpful. A classification of caecilians by Wilkinson et al. (2011) divided the living caecilians into 9 families containing nearly 200 species. In 2012, a tenth caecilian family was newly described, Chikilidae . This classification is based on a thorough definition of monophyly based on morphological and molecular evidence, and it solves
2565-538: Is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy during the Italian Renaissance of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and then across northern Europe after about 1500, as a key feature of the humanist movement. Through comparison with Latin of the Classical period , scholars from Petrarch onwards promoted a standard of Latin closer to that of
2660-510: Is thought to be viviparous . In June 2011, an amphibian was photographed near Praia de Marahú on the island of Mosqueiro (near Belém , Brazil) that appeared to be A. eiselti , but was not positively identified. In 2011, six individual organisms were found in the Madeira River . Neither have cold, fast-flowing water, as was originally thought, as there is less oxygen in warmer water. This makes its lack of lungs even more unusual, and
2755-487: Is thought to be aquatic since its relatives and lungless salamanders , some of the few other lungless tetrapods, are aquatic as well. It was postulated to inhabit fast-flowing water. Due to the lack of information, it is classified as Data Deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature . It is thought to be uncommon, with a limited distribution. It is likely a predator or scavenger, and
2850-493: Is unknown. The middle ear consists of only the stapes bone and the oval window , which transfer vibrations into the inner ear through a reentrant fluid circuit as seen in some reptiles. Adults of species within the family Scolecomorphidae lack both a stapes and an oval window, making them the only known amphibians missing all the components of a middle ear apparatus. The lower jaw is specialized in caecilians. Gymnophionans, including extinct species, have only two components of
2945-414: Is very different from those of other caecilians, giving the animal a broad, flat head. Its nostrils are sealed, and it has an enlarged mouth with a mobile cheek. Its body has a fleshy dorsal fin. Most caecilians have a well-developed right lung and a vestigial left lung. Some, such as Atretochoana ' s relatives, have two well-developed lungs. Atretochoana , however, entirely lacks lungs, and has
Caecilian - Misplaced Pages Continue
3040-679: The Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean , Central America , and in northern and eastern South America . In Africa, caecilians are found from Guinea-Bissau ( Geotrypetes ) to southern Malawi ( Scolecomorphus ), with an unconfirmed record from eastern Zimbabwe . They have not been recorded from the extensive areas of tropical forest in central Africa. In South America, they extend through subtropical eastern Brazil well into temperate northern Argentina . They can be seen as far south as Buenos Aires , when they are carried by
3135-410: The wildlife trade . Whether a breeding population has been established in the area is unknown. The name caecilian derives from the Latin word caecus , meaning "blind", referring to the small or sometimes nonexistent eyes. The name dates back to the taxonomic name of the first species described by Carl Linnaeus , which he named Caecilia tentaculata . There has historically been disagreement over
3230-484: The 14th and 15th centuries. Scientific nomenclatures sometimes prefer the term "New Latin", to show where their terms were coined in the same period. Neo-Latin describes the use of the Latin language for any purpose, scientific or literary, during and after the Renaissance. The beginning of the period cannot be precisely identified. The spread of secular education, the acceptance of humanistic literary norms, and
3325-463: The 1800s among linguists and scientists . Neo-Latin can be said to be the current style of Latin writing, but different periods in its evolution can be seen. Neo-Latin writings were seen as less relevant and deserving of less attention than Classical Latin during the 1800s, as Classical models were asserted as the prime focus for study. Productive use of Latin for most purposes ended in the early 1800s. While Latin remained an actively used language,
3420-483: The 19th century. Its lack of lungs was not known at this time, and the specimen was assigned to the species Typhlonectes compressicauda . The Vienna specimen was the holotype for this species when it was first described by Edward Harrison Taylor in his 1968 monograph Caecilians of the World . He named it Typhlonectes eiselti , in honour of Viennese herpetologist Josef Eiselt . Taylor considered it to be similar to
3515-544: The Catholic church affirmed their commitment to Latin in the liturgy and as a working language within the hierarchy at the Council of Trent in 1545–63. Jesuit schools were particularly well known for their production of Latin plays , exclusive use of spoken Latin and emphasis on classical written style. However, the standards ultimately achieved by the whole school system were uneven. Not all students would acquire Latin to
3610-631: The German Celtis . In the late 1400s, some schools in the Low Countries were using the new Italian standards of Latin. Erasmus and other pupils promoted the new learning and Latin standards. The Low Countries established itself as a leading centre of humanism and Neo-Latin; Rotterdam and Leuven were especially well known for these intellectual currents. Neo-Latin developed in advance of and in parallel with vernacular languages, but not necessarily in direct competition with them. Frequently
3705-465: The Greek words γυμνος / gymnos ( Ancient Greek for 'naked') and οφις / ophis ( Ancient Greek for 'snake'), as the caecilians were originally thought to be related to snakes and to lack scales. The study of caecilian evolution is complicated by their poor fossil record and specialized anatomy. Genetic evidence and some anatomical details (such as pedicellate teeth ) support
3800-581: The Neo-Latin period is likewise indeterminate, but Latin as a regular vehicle of communicating ideas became rare following the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and after the Congress of Vienna , where French replaced Latin as the language of diplomacy. By 1900, Latin survived primarily in international scientific vocabulary and taxonomy , or more actively, in the upper echelons of the Catholic Church . The term "Neo-Latin" came into use during
3895-612: The Renaissance and Neo-Latin period saw a decisive move back to authors from the Classical period, and away from non-Classical 'minor' authors such as Boethius , whose language was simpler. The changes to schooling in Northern Europe were more profound, as methods had not evolved as quickly. Adopting Italian innovations, changes to the teaching of grammar and rhetoric were promoted by reformers including Calvin , Melanchthon and Luther . Protestants needed Latin to promote and disseminate their ideas, so were heavily involved with
Caecilian - Misplaced Pages Continue
3990-591: The Seychelles and India has led to speculation on the presence of undiscovered extinct or extant caecilians there. In 2021, a live specimen of Typhlonectes natans , a caecilian native to Colombia and Venezuela , was collected from a drainage canal in South Florida . It was the only caecilian ever reported in the wild in the United States, and is considered to be an introduction , perhaps from
4085-492: The ancient Romans, especially in grammar, style, and spelling. The term Neo-Latin was however coined much later, probably in Germany in the late eighteenth century, as Neulatein , spreading to French and other languages in the nineteenth century. Medieval Latin had diverged quite substantially from the classical standard and saw notable regional variation and influence from vernacular languages. Neo-Latin attempts to return to
4180-404: The aquatic caecilians of the genus Typhlonectes and Potamotyphlus , and placed it in the former genus, taking much note only of its large size and high number of splenial teeth. Taylor did not inform the curators of the Naturhistorisches Museum that he designated the specimen a holotype, so it was not mentioned in the museum's catalogue of type specimens, and was placed beneath glass in
4275-594: The babies. The researchers observed the hatchlings emitting high-pitched clicking sounds as they approached their mothers for milk, a behavior unique among amphibians. This milk-feeding behavior may contribute to the development of the hatchlings' microbiome and immune system, similar to mammalian young. The presence of milk production in caecilians that lay eggs suggests an evolutionary transition between egg-laying and live birth . Caecilians are native to wet, tropical regions of Southeast Asia , India , Bangladesh , Nepal and Sri Lanka , parts of East and West Africa ,
4370-531: The bounds of the Church. Nevertheless, studies and criticism of Biblical translations were a particular and important focus of early Humanism, in Italy and beyond. Prominent Neo-Latin writers who were admired for their style in this early period included Pontano , Petrarch , Salutati , Bruni , Ficino , Pico della Mirandola in Italy; the Spaniard Juan Luis Vives ; and in northern Europe,
4465-408: The careful work of Petrarch, Politian and others, first the demand for manuscripts, and then the rush to bring works into print, led to the circulation of inaccurate copies for several centuries following. As the humanist reformers sought both to purify Latin grammar and style, and to make Latin applicable to concerns beyond the ecclesiastical, they began to create a body of Latin literature outside
4560-554: The continued use of Latin in Scandinavian countries and Russia – places that had never belonged to the Roman Empire – to disseminate knowledge until the early nineteenth century. Neo-Latin includes extensive new word formation . Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature , such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy and international scientific vocabulary , draws extensively from this newly minted vocabulary, often in
4655-598: The cultural heritage of Ancient Greece and Byzantium , as well as Greek and Old Church Slavonic languages. Latin was taught extensively in the USA , during the colonial period on the European model of Latin medium education, but was among the first to allow this monopoly to recede. Both Latin and the Classics were very influential nevertheless, and supported an active Latin literature, especially in poetry. Latin played
4750-482: The extent of potential records, even regarding printed works, there is extensive basic work to be done in cataloguing what is available, as well as in digitisation and translation of important works. Neo-Latin was, at least in its early days, an international language used throughout Catholic and Protestant Europe, as well as in the colonies of the major European powers. This area consisted of most of Europe, including Central Europe and Scandinavia ; its southern border
4845-461: The few known lungless tetrapods , and the only known lungless caecilian. A. eiselti is the largest tetrapod to lack lungs , double the size of the next largest. Caecilians such as Atretochoana are limbless amphibians with snake-like bodies, marked with rings like those of earthworms . It has significant morphological differences from other caecilians, even the genera most closely related to it, even though those genera are aquatic. The skull
SECTION 50
#17327763872294940-786: The flood waters of the Paraná River coming from farther north. Their American range extends north to southern Mexico . The northernmost distribution is of the species Ichthyophis sikkimensis of northern India. Ichthyophis is also found in South China and Northern Vietnam . In Southeast Asia, they are found as far east as Java , Borneo , and the southern Philippines , but they have not crossed Wallace's line and are not present in Australia or nearby islands. There are no known caecilians in Madagascar , but their presence in
5035-438: The form of classical or neoclassical compounds . Large parts of this new Latin vocabulary have seeped into English , French and several Germanic languages, particularly through Neo-Latin. In the eighteenth century, Latin was increasingly being learnt as a written and read language, with less emphasis on oral fluency. While it still dominated education, its position alongside Greek was increasingly attacked and began to erode. In
5130-629: The idea that frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (collectively known as lissamphibians ) are each other's closest relatives. Frogs and salamanders show many similarities to dissorophoids , a group of extinct amphibians in the order Temnospondyli . Caecilians are more controversial; many studies extend dissorophoid ancestry to caecilians. Some studies have instead argued that caecilians descend from extinct lepospondyl or stereospondyl amphibians, contradicting evidence for lissamphibian monophyly (common ancestry). Rare fossils of early gymnophionans such as Eocaecilia and Funcusvermis have helped to test
5225-561: The ideal of Golden Latinity in line with the Humanist slogan ad fontes . The new style of Latin was adopted throughout Europe, first through the spread of urban education in Italy, and then the rise of the printing press and of early modern schooling. Latin was learnt as a spoken language as well as written, as the vehicle of schooling and University education, while vernacular languages were still infrequently used in such settings. As such, Latin dominated early publishing, and made up
5320-439: The jaw by pulling backwards and downwards. Jaw muscles are more highly developed in the most efficient burrowers among the caecilians, and appear to help keep the skull and jaw rigid. Their skin is smooth and usually dark, but some species have colourful skins. Inside the skin are calcite scales . Because of these scales, the caecilians were once thought to be related to the fossil Stegocephalia , but they are now believed to be
5415-410: The jaw, compared with the single pair found in other amphibians. One set of muscles, the adductors, insert into the upper edge of the pseudoangular in front of the jaw joint. Adductor muscles are commonplace in vertebrates, and close the jaw by pulling upwards and forwards. A more unique set of muscles, the abductors, insert into the rear edge of the pseudoangular below and behind the jaw joint. They close
5510-405: The jaw: the pseudodentary (at the front, bearing teeth) and pseudoangular (at the back, bearing the jaw joint and muscle attachments). These two components are what remains following fusion between a larger set of bones. An additional inset tooth row with up to 20 teeth lies parallel to the main marginal tooth row of the jaw. All but the most primitive caecilians have two sets of muscles for closing
5605-411: The lab. The mothers remained with their offspring, which suckled on a white, viscous liquid from their cloaca , experiencing rapid growth in their first week. This milk-like substance, rich in fats and carbohydrates , is produced in the mother's oviduct epithelium 's hypertrophied glands, similar to mammal milk . The substance was released seemingly in response to tactile and acoustic stimulation by
5700-641: The learner with spoken vocabulary for common topics, such as play and games, home work and describing travel. In short, Latin was taught as a "completely normal language", to be used as any other. Colloquia would also contain moral education. At a higher level, Erasmus' Colloquia helped equip Latin speakers with urbane and polite phraseology, and means of discussing more philosophical topics. Changes to Latin teaching varied by region. In Italy, with more urbanised schools and Universities, and wider curricula aimed at professions rather than just theology, Latin teaching evolved more gradually, and earlier, in order to speed up
5795-423: The learning of Latin. For instance, initial learning of grammar in a basic Latin word order followed the practice of medieval schools. In both medieval and Renaissance schools, practice in Latin written skills would then extend to prose style composition, as part of 'rhetoric'. In Italy, for prose for instance, a pupil would typically be asked to convert a passage in ordo naturalis to ordo artificialis , that
SECTION 60
#17327763872295890-478: The level of abstract thought addressed to other specialists. To begin with, knowledge was already transmitted through Latin and it maintained specialised vocabularies not found in vernacular languages. This did not preclude scientific writings also existing in vernaculars; for example Galileo , some of whose scientific writings were in Latin, while others were in Italian, the latter less academic and intended to reach
5985-586: The liturgy, resisting attempts even in the New World and China to diverge from it. As noted above, Jesuit schools fuelled a high standard of Latinity, and this was also supported by the growth of seminaries, as part of the Counter Reformation 's attempts to revitalise Catholic institutions. While in Protestant areas Latin was pushed out of the Church, this did not make Protestants hostile to Latin in education or universities. In fact, Latin remained
6080-1095: The longstanding problems of paraphyly of the Caeciliidae in previous classifications without an exclusive reliance upon synonymy. There are 219 species of caecilian in 33 genera and 10 families. The most recent phylogeny of caecilians is based on molecular mitogenomic evidence examined by San Mauro et al. (2014), and modified to include some more recently described genera such as Amazops . † Eocaecilia micropodia † Rubricacaecilia monbaroni Amazops Rhinatrema Epicrionops Uraeotyphlus Ichthyophis Crotaphatrema Scolecomorphus Chikila Herpele Boulengerula ? Atretochoana ? Nectocaecilia ? Potamotyphlus Chthonerpeton Typhlonectes Oscaecilia Caecilia ? Idiocranium ? Indotyphlus ? Sylvacaecilia Gegeneophis Hypogeophis Praslinia Grandisonia Geotrypetes Schistometopum New Latin language Neo-Latin (sometimes called New Latin or Modern Latin )
6175-605: The most well known example. Throughout this period, Latin was a universal school subject, and indeed, the pre-eminent subject for elementary education in most of Europe and other places of the world that shared its culture. Schools were variously known as grammar schools in Britain, Latin schools in France, Germany, the Netherlands and colonial North America, and also Gymnasia in Germany and many other countries. Latin
6270-428: The mouth is recessed under the head, so that the snout overhangs the mouth. The bones in the skull are reduced in number compared to prehistoric amphibian species. Many bones of the skull are fused together: the maxilla and palatine bones have fused into a maxillopalatine in all living caecilians, and the nasal and premaxilla bones fuse into a nasopremaxilla in some families. Some families can be differentiated by
6365-516: The nineteenth century, education in Latin (and Greek) focused increasingly on reading and grammar, and mutated into the 'classics' as a topic, although it often still dominated the school curriculum, especially for students aiming for entry to university. Learning moved gradually away from poetry composition and other written skills; as a language, its use was increasingly passive outside of classical commentaries and other specialised texts. Latin remained in active use in eastern Europe and Scandinavia for
6460-512: The period, English schools established with charitable structures open to the general public; now a kind of private academy), where the liturgy was still permitted to be conducted in Latin. In this period, it was common for poets and authors to write in Latin, either in place of or in addition to their native language. Latin was a language for "high art" in an "eternal language", that authors supposed might outlast contemporary vernacular writings. It allowed for an international readership that shared
6555-472: The practical working language of the Roman Catholic Church , and was taught throughout Europe to clerics through the medieval university system. It was a flexible language, with many neologisms. Changes in grammatical practices regarding syntax and other elements such as conjunctions had become established. The Renaissance reinforced the position of Latin as a spoken and written language by
6650-413: The presence of absence of certain skull bones, such as the septomaxillae , prefrontals , an/or a postfrontal -like bone surrounding the orbit (eye socket). The braincase is encased in a fully integrated compound bone called the os basale, which takes up most of the rear and lower parts of the skull. In skulls viewed from above, a mesethmoid bone may be visible in some species, wedging into the midline of
6745-471: The process of emulating Classical models did not become complete. For instance, Catholic traditions preserved some features of medieval Latin, given the continued influence of some aspects of medieval theology. In secular texts, such as scientific, legal and philosophical works, neologisms continued to be needed, so while Neo-Latin authors might choose new formulations, they might also continue to use customary medieval forms, but in either case, could not aim for
6840-434: The reform of Latin teaching. Among the most influential of these reformers was Calvin's Latin teacher and educational collaborator Corderius , whose bilingual colloquies were aimed at helping French-speaking children learn to speak Latin. Among Latin schools, the rapid growth of Jesuit schools made them known for their dedication to high attainment in written and spoken Latin to educate future priests. This took place after
6935-768: The reform of the new secular Latin teaching. The heyday of Neo-Latin was 1500–1700, when in the continuation of the Medieval Latin tradition, it served as the lingua franca of science, medicine, legal discourse, theology, education, and to some degree diplomacy in Europe. This coincided with the growth of printed literature; Latin dominated early publishing. Classic works such as Thomas More 's Utopia were published. Other prominent writers of this period include Dutchmen Grotius and Secundus and Scotsman George Buchanan . Women, while rarely published, also wrote and composed poetry in Latin, Elizabeth Jane Weston being
7030-574: The results of their research in a 1995 issue of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B . The name they gave this genus was Atretochoana , from the Greek word atretos , meaning "imperforate", and the Greek word choana , referring to a funnel or tube. Nussbaum and Wilkinson published further studies in 1997 describing in detail the caecilian's anatomy and morphology. In 1998, they discovered
7125-503: The same Classical and recent Latin cultural reference points. The literature did not stand apart from vernaculars, as naturally allusions and the same reference points could flow across language boundaries. However, these dynamics have become less well understood, as academics and other readers are not as familiar with the Latin works of the period, sometimes resulting in simplistic notions of competition and replacement of Latin over time. The actual processes were more complicated and are now
7220-435: The same people were codifying and promoting both Latin and vernacular languages, in a wider post-medieval process of linguistic standardisation. However, Latin was the first language that was available, fully formed, widely taught and used internationally across a wide variety of subjects. As such, it can be seen as the first "modern European language". It should also be noted that for Italian reformers of written Latin, there
7315-716: The scholarship by the Renaissance Humanists . Although scholarship initially focused on Ancient Greek texts, Petrarch and others began to change their understanding of good style and their own usage of Latin as they explored the texts of the Classical Latin world. Skills of textual criticism evolved to create much more accurate versions of extant texts through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and some important texts were rediscovered. Comprehensive versions of author's works were published by Isaac Casaubon , Joseph Scaliger and others. Nevertheless, despite
7410-471: The second specimen in the University of Brasília , although the origin of this specimen was also unknown. In 1999, they determined Atretochoana was a sister taxon of Potamotyphlus , and in 2011, grouped it in the family Typhlonectidae . Both of these specimens are mature females. Most caecilians are burrowers, but some, including Atretochoana ' s relatives, are largely aquatic. Atretochoana
7505-450: The skin contains glands that secrete a toxin to deter predators. The skin secretions of Siphonops paulensis have been shown to have hemolytic properties. Recent research, as documented in the journal Science , has shed light on the behavior of certain species of caecilians. These studies reveal that some caecilians exhibit a phenomenon wherein they provide their hatchlings with a nutrient-rich substance akin to milk, delivered through
7600-458: The skull roof. All caecilians have a pair of unique sensory structures, known as tentacles , located on either side of the head between the eyes and nostrils. These are probably used for a second olfactory capability , in addition to the normal sense of smell based in the nose. The ringed caecilian ( Siphonops annulatus ) has dental glands that may be homologous to the venom glands of some snakes and lizards . The function of these glands
7695-407: The smaller species resemble worms, while the larger species like Caecilia thompsoni , with lengths up to 1.5 m (5 ft), resemble snakes. Their tails are short or absent, and their cloacae are near the ends of their bodies. Except for one lungless species, Atretochoana eiselti , all caecilians have lungs , but also use their skin or mouths for oxygen absorption. Often, the left lung
7790-558: The superiority of vernacular literatures, and the idea that only writing in one's first language could produce genuinely creative output, found in nationalism and Romanticism. More recently, the lack of trained Latinists has added to the barriers. More academic attention has been given to Neo-Latin studies since 1970, and the role and influence of Latin output in this period has begun to be reassessed. Rather than being an adjunct to Classical Latin forms, or an isolated, derivative and now largely irrelevant cultural output, Neo-Latin literature
7885-410: The three living amphibian groups alongside Anura ( frogs ) and Urodela ( salamanders ). Gymnophiona is a crown group , encompassing all modern caecilians and all descendants of their last common ancestor. There are more than 220 living species of caecilian classified in 10 families . Gymnophionomorpha is a recently coined name for the corresponding total group which includes Gymnophiona as well as
7980-517: The use of the two primary scientific names for caecilians, Apoda and Gymnophiona. Some palaeontologists prefer to use the name Apoda to refer to the "crown group", that is, the group containing all modern caecilians and extinct members of these modern lineages and the name Gymnophiona to refer to the total group, that is, all caecilians and caecilian-like amphibians that are more closely related to modern groups than to frogs or salamanders. However, Apoda been used for groups of fishes and of sea cucumbers and
8075-530: The various conflicting hypotheses for the relationships between caecilians and other living and extinct amphibians. Caecilians' anatomy is highly adapted for a burrowing lifestyle. In a couple of species belonging to the primitive genus Ichthyophis vestigial traces of limbs have been found, and in Typhlonectes compressicauda the presence of limb buds has been observed during embryonic development, remnants in an otherwise completely limbless body. This makes
8170-415: The vast majority of extant Latin output, estimated as well over 99.99% of the totality. Given the size of output and importance of Latin, the lack of attention to it is surprising to many scholars. The trend is a long one, however, dating back to the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, as Neo-Latin texts became looked down on as non-classical. Reasons could include the rising belief during this period in
8265-413: The wide availability of Latin texts following the invention of printing , mark the transition to a new era of scholarship at the end of the 15th century, but there was no simple, decisive break with medieval traditions. Rather, there was a process of change in education, a choice of literary and stylistic models, and a move away from medieval techniques of language formation and argumentation. The end of
8360-417: The widening of education and its needs to address many more practical areas of knowledge, many of which were being written about for national audiences in the vernacular. The exact size of the Neo-Latin corpus is currently incalculable, but dwarfs that of Latin in all other periods combined. Material includes personal, unpublished, bureaucratic, educational, and academic output such as notes and theses. Given
8455-464: Was a pan-European language for the dissemination of knowledge and communication between people with different vernaculars in the Republic of Letters (Res Publica Litterarum) . Even as Latin receded in importance after 1650, it remained vital for international communication of works, many of which were popularised in Latin translation, rather than as vernacular originals. This in large part explains
8550-453: Was appropriate to put so much emphasis on abstract language skills such as Latin poetry composition. As time went on, the difficulties with Latin teaching began to lead to calls to move away from an emphasis on spoken Latin and the introduction of more native-language-medium teaching. At the beginning of the Renaissance, universities in northern Europe were still dominated by theology and related topics, while Italian universities were teaching
8645-412: Was frequently the normal medium of education, both for teaching the Latin language, and for other subjects. Fluency in spoken Latin was an objective as well as the ability to read and write; evidence of this includes the emphasis on use of diacritics to maintain understanding of vowel quantity, which is important orally, and also on the use of Colloquia for children's learning, which would help to equip
8740-446: Was in Latin, across the curriculum. Many universities hosted newly or recently-written Latin plays , which formed a significant body of literature before 1650. Plays included satires on student life, such as the play Studentes (Students), which went through many reprints. Enforcement of Latin-only rules tended to decline especially after 1650. Latin dominated topics of international academic and scientific interest, especially at
8835-423: Was no clear divide between Italian and Latin; the latter was seen by Petrarch for example as an artificial and literary version of the spoken language. While Italian in this period also begins to be used as a separate written language, it was not always seen as wholly separate from Latin. The Protestant Reformation (1520–1580), though it removed Latin from the liturgies of the churches of Northern Europe, promoted
8930-647: Was of course the major language of Christian theology. Both Catholic and Protestant writers published in Latin. While Protestant writers would also write in vernaculars, Latin was important for the international dissemination of ideas. Legal discourse, medicine, philosophy and sciences started from a strong Latin tradition, and continued as such. This began to change in the late seventeenth century, as philosophers and others began to write in their native language first, and translate into Latin for international audiences. Translations would tend to prioritise accuracy over style. The Catholic Church made exclusive use of Latin in
9025-675: Was the Mediterranean Sea, with the division more or less corresponding to the modern eastern borders of Finland , the Baltic states , Poland , Slovakia , Hungary and Croatia . Russia 's acquisition of Kyiv in the later 17th century introduced the study of Latin to Russia. Russia relied on Latin for some time as a vehicle to exchange scientific knowledge. Nevertheless, the use of Latin in Orthodox eastern Europe did not reach pervasive levels due to their strong cultural links to
#228771