saola

English

A saola

Etymology

Borrowed from Vietnamese sao la, probably from Lao ເສົາຫລ (sao la, “spindle[-horned]”) or some other Tai-Kadai language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsaʊlə/, /ˈsaʊˌlɑː/

Noun

saola (plural saolas or saola)

1. A critically endangered ruminant of species Pseudoryx nghetinhensis, of Vietnam and Laos.
   • 2013, C. Michele Thompson, 10: Would a saola by any other name still be a saola?, Hue-Tam Ho Tai, Mark Sidel (editors), State, Society and the Market in Contemporary Vietnam, Taylor & Francis (Routledge), page 185,

     The current consensus is that the saola is so rare and so solitary in terms of genetic relatives that it should be placed not only in its own separate genus (Pseudoryx) but also in its own tribe (Pseudorygini) within the subfamily Bovinae.

   • 2014, William Robichaud, Barney Long, “Chapter 19: Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis Dung, Giao, Chinh, Touc, Arctander & Mackinnon, 1993”, in Mario Melletti, James Burton, editors, Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour of Wild Cattle: Implications for Conservation, Cambridge University Press, page 323:

     Killing or capture of saola is prohibited by law in both Vietnam and Lao PDR, and the sale of wildlife in both countries is generally illegal, but there is insufficient enforcement of these laws in both countries.

   • 2015, William deBuys, The Last Unicorn: A Search for One of Earth's Rarest Creatures, Hachette (Little, Brown and Company), unnumbered page,

     It is surprising, twenty years after saola first attracted the world's attention, that so little about the species is known.

Synonyms

• (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis): Asian unicorn, spindlehorn, Vu Quang ox, Vu Quang bovid

Translations

rare ruminant of Vietnam and Laos

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 中南大羚 (zhōngnán dàlíng)

• Finnish: saola (fi)
• Japanese: サオラ (ja) (saora)
• Lao: ສັດສຸພາບ (sat su phāp) (literally "the polite animal")
• Portuguese: saola m
• Russian: са́ола, сао́ла (ru) f (sáola, saóla)
• Spanish: saola m, buey de vu quang
• Swedish: vuquangoxe c, vietnamantilop c
• Thai: ซาวลา (saola)
• Vietnamese: sao la (vi)
• White Hmong: saht-supahp (loanword from Lao)

Further reading

• Pseudoryx nghetinhensis on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Pseudoryx nghetinhensis on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Anagrams

• alosa, oasal