Cyclura nubila and Dollar: Difference between pages
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{{Taxobox |
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{{otheruses1|the type of currency; for the U.S. Dollar see [[United States dollar]]}} |
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| name = Cuban Rock Iguana |
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[[Image:Loonie reverse view.png|thumb|[[Loonie|Canadian (Loonie) one-dollar coin]]]] |
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| image = Iguana_at_the_Iguanas_island_near_Cayo_Largo_shot_01.jpg |
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| image_width = 250px |
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| image_caption = [[Cyclura nubila|Cuban Rock Iguana - ''Cyclura Nubila'']] |
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| status = VU | status_system = IUCN2.3 |
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| regnum = [[Animal]]ia |
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| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]] |
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| classis = [[reptile|Sauropsida]] |
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| ordo = [[Squamata]] |
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| familia = [[Iguanidae]] |
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| genus = [[Cyclura]] |
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| species = '''''C. nubila''''' |
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| binomial = ''Cyclura nubila'' |
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| binomial_authority = ([[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1831) |
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The '''''dollar''''' (often represented by the [[dollar sign]]: "$") is the name of the official [[currency]] in several countries, dependencies and other world regions. All nations that have the ''dollar'' as their currency have their notes and coins in circulation containing various metals and substances. |
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}} |
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'''''Cyclura nubila''''', also known as the '''Cuban Rock Iguana''' or '''Cuban Iguana''' is an endangered species of [[lizard]] of the genus ''[[Cyclura]]''. It is the largest of the West Indian [[cyclura|Rock Iguanas]], one of the most endangered group of lizards in the world. This species is one of the largest native land vertebrates in the [[West Indies]]. |
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==History== |
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Primarily herbivorous, these iguanas are distributed throughout [[Cuba]] with a feral population thriving on on Isla Magueyes, [[Puerto Rico]]. Unlike most [[iguanid]]s, females guard their nest sites and often nest in proximity to [[Cuban Crocodile|Cuban crocodiles]]. |
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[[Image:United States one dollar bill, obverse.jpg|thumb|[[United States one-dollar bill]]]] |
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[[Image:NT1.jpg|thumb|One [[New Taiwan dollar]]]] |
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[[Image:Australian One Dollar Rev.jpg|thumb|[[One dollar coin (Australian)|Australian one-dollar coin]]]] |
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[[Image:Nz 1d front.jpg|thumb|right|A [[New Zealand]] [[New Zealand dollar|One Dollar coin]]]] |
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[[Image:500 Zimbabwean dollar note.JPG|thumb|500 old [[Zimbabwean dollar]]s]] |
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The German name ''[[Thaler]]'' came from the Bohemian coin minted from the silver from a rich mine at [[Joachimsthal]] - [[Jáchymov]] (St. Joachim's Valley) in [[Bohemia]] north of [[Karlovy Vary]] (Karlsbad). Not long after issuance, these coins gained the name [[Joachimsthalers]]. From there, coins gained the name "[[thaler]]" regardless of the issuing authority.<ref>{{cite book |
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Although the wild population is in decline due to [[feral]] animals and human agricultural development, recovery is ongoing by means of ''[[in-situ]]'' and ''[[Ex-situ conservation|ex-situ]]'' captive-breeding and headstarting conservation programs. |
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| last =Rhodes |
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| first =Richard |
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| authorlink =Richard Rhodes |
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| title =The making of the atomic bomb |
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| publisher =Simon and Schuster |
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| year =1986 |
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| location =New York |
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| pages =118 }}</ref> |
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The name is historically related to the tolar, in [[Germany]] [[Reichsthaler]], [[Slovenia]] ([[Slovenian tolar]]) and [[Bohemia]], the [[Dutch guilder|daalder]] in the [[Netherlands]] and [[Riksdaler|daler]] in [[Sweden]], [[Denmark]], and [[Norway]]. "[[Guildiner]]" can be traced to 1486 when Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol, a small state north of Venice, issued a dollar-sized coin which was referred to as a "[[guildiner]]". Silver supplies were small which limited coinage.<ref>{{cite magazine |
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| last =Julian |
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| first =R.W. |
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| title =All About the DOLLAR |
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| publisher =Numismatist |
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| year = 2007 |
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| pages =41 }}</ref> |
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The Dutch lion dollar circulated throughout the Middle East and was imitated in several German and Italian cities. It was also popular in the [[Dutch East Indies]] as well as in the Dutch [[New Netherland|New Netherlands Colony]] ([[New York]]). The lion dollar also has circulated throughout the English colonies during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Examples circulating in the colonies were usually fairly well worn so that the design was not fully distinguishable, thus they were sometimes referred to as "dog dollars."<ref>[http://www.coins.nd.edu/ColCoin/ColCoinIntros/Lion-Dollar.intro.html Lion Dollar - Introduction<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> This Dutch currency made its way to the east coast due to the increased trading by colonial ships with other nations. By the mid-1700s, it was replaced by the Spanish 8 reales.<ref name = "nqteor">{{cite magazine |
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==Taxonomy== |
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| last =Julian |
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The [[genus|generic]] name ''[[Cyclura]]'' is derived from the [[Greek language|Greek]] words ''cyclos'' meaning "circular" and ''urus'' meaning "tail", after the thick ringed tail characteristic of all ''Cyclura'' species.<ref name="Sanchez">{{citation | last = Sanchez |
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| first =R.W. |
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| first = Alejandro | title = Father Sanchez's Web Site of West Indian Natural History Diapsids I: Introduction; Lizards | url = http://www.kingsnake.com/westindian/metazoa10.html |
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| title =All About the Dollar |
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| date = November 26, 2007 }}</ref> The [[species|specific]] name ''nubila'' is Latin for the word "gray", and is a Latinized form of the name of the zoologist, [[John Edward Gray]], who first described the Cuban Rock Iguana as a species in 1831.<ref name="iucn"/><ref name="hollingsworth">{{citation | last = Hollingsworth | first = Bradford D. | title = The Evolution of Iguanas an Overview and a Checklist of Species | work = Iguanas: Biology and Conservation | publisher = University of California Press | pages = 37 | date = 2004 | isbn = 9780520238541 }}</ref> |
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| publisher =Numismatist |
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| year = 2007 |
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| pages =41 }}</ref> |
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The name "[[Spanish dollar]]" was used for a Spanish coin, the "real de a ocho" and later [[peso]], worth eight reals (hence the [[nickname]] "pieces of eight"), which was widely circulated during the 18th century in the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonies in the New World]] and in Spanish territories in Asia, namely in the [[Philippines]].The use of the Spanish dollar and the [[Maria Theresa thaler]] as legal tender for the early [[United States]] and its fractions were the mainstay of commerce. They are the reasons for the name of the nation's currency.{{Fact|date=August 2007}} By the [[American Revolution]] in 1775, these Spanish coins became even more important. They backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies and the [[Continental Congress]].<ref name = "nqteor"/> |
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In 1975, Biologists Schwartz and Thomas recognized ''Cyclura nubila'' as a species with two subspecific forms, those two being the [[Blue Iguana]] (''Cyclura nubila lewisi'') and the Lesser Caymans Iguana (''[[Cyclura nubila caymanensis]]'').<ref name="hollingsworth"/> After years of research comparing scale counts on the heads of Caribbean iguanas, including those found on [[Little Cayman]], [[Cayman Brac]], [[Grand Cayman]], [[Cuba]], and the [[Bahamas]], as well as [[mitochondrial DNA]] analysis performed by Dr. Catherine Malone of [[Texas A&M University]] to re-examine the [[phylogeography]] of the different species revealed this classification to be in error and currently only one subspecies is recognized:the Lesser Caymans Iguana (''Cyclura nubila caymeanensis'').<ref name="hollingsworth"/><ref name="malone"/> |
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However, the word ''dollar'' was in use in the [[English language]] as slang or mis-pronunciation for the thaler for about 200 years before the [[American Revolution]], with many quotes in the plays of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] referring to dollars as money. Spanish dollars were in circulation in the [[Thirteen Colonies]] that became the [[United States]], and were [[legal tender]] in [[Virginia]]. |
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Coins known as dollars were also in use in [[Scotland]] during the 17th century, and there is a claim that the use of the English word, and perhaps even the use of the coin, began at the [[University of St Andrews]]. This explains the sum of 'Ten thousand dollars' mentioned in [[Macbeth]] (Act I, Scene II), although the real [[Macbeth of Scotland|Macbeth]] upon whom the play was based lived in the 11th century, making the reference [[Anachronism|anachronistic]]; however this is not rare in Shakespeare's work. |
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==Anatomy and morphology== |
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The Cuban Iguana is a large species of [[lizard]] with a body length of 18 to 20.5 inches (460–520 mm) when measured from the snout to the vent (or base of the tail).<ref name="hollingsworth"/> Animals in excess of five feet (when measured from snout to tip of the tail) have been recorded at the Wildlife Sanctuary within the [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] (GTMO), Cuba.<ref name="gitmo"/><ref name="Nelson">{{Citation | last=Nelson | first=Robert | title=A Safe Haven For Wildlife: Naval Base Guantanamo Bay Provides Sanctuary For Iguana | journal=Currents: Navy Environmental News | date=8/1/2001 | year=2001 |url=http://www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents/fall2001/Currents%20Fall%202001-web.pdf }}</ref> Males are larger than females, with skin color ranging from dark grey to brick red, whereas females are more olive green, and have dark stipes or bands.<ref name="schettino"/> Limbs are black with pale brown oval spots.<ref name="schettino"/> Young animals tend to be uniformly dark brown or green with faint darker striping or mottling in the form of five to ten diagonal traverse bands on the body.<ref name="schettino"/> These bands blend in with the body color as the iguana ages.<ref name="schettino"/> |
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In the early 19th century, a British five-[[shilling]] piece, or [[Crown (British coin)|crown]], was sometimes called a dollar, probably because its appearance was similar to the Spanish dollar. This expression appeared again in the 1940s, when U.S. troops came to the UK during [[World War II]]. At the time a U.S. dollar was worth about 5s., so some of the U.S. soldiers started calling it a dollar. Consequently, they called the [[half crown]] "half a dollar", and the expression caught on among some locals and could be heard into the 1960s. |
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Cuban Iguanas have excellent vision, enabling them to detect shapes and motions at long distances.<ref name="Brames">{{Citation | last=Brames | first=Henry | title=Aspects of Light and Reptile Immunity | journal=Iguana: Conservation, Natural History, and Husbandry of Reptiles | publisher=International Reptile Conservation Foundation | volume=14 | issue=1 | year=2007 |pages=19–23 }}</ref> As these iguanas have only a few [[Rod cell|rods]] they have poor vision in low-light conditions. At the same time these lizards have cells called "double [[Cone cell|cone]]s" which give them sharp color vision and enable them to see [[ultraviolet]] wavelenghts.<ref name="Brames"/> This ability is highly useful when basking so the animal can ensure that it absorbs enough sunlight in the forms of UVA and UVB to produce [[Vitamin D]].<ref name="devosjoli"/> |
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In the early days of the United States, the term "Dollar" was commonly known as a coin minted by Spain called the Spanish Milled Dollar. These coins were the standard money then in use in the country. On April 2, 1792 Alexander Hamilton, then the Secretary of the Treasury, made a report to Congress that were the result of his task to scientifically determine the amount of silver in the Spanish Milled Dollar coins that were then in current use by the people. As a result of this report, the Dollar was defined (See the ''Act of April 2, A.D. 1792 of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Section 9'') as a unit of measure of 371 4/16th grains of pure silver or 416 grains of standard silver. (''Standard silver being defined as 1,485 parts fine silver to 179 parts alloy; See Section 13 of the Act.''). Therefore paper is not the dollar, instead, it is 'worth', not 'is', 1 dollar (U.S Silver certificate.) In section 20 of the Act, it is specified that the "money of account" of the United States shall be expressed in those same "dollars" or parts thereof. All of the minor coins were also defined in terms of percentages of the primary coin the dollar such that a half dollar contained 1/2 as much silver as a dollar, quarter dollars, 1/4th etc. In an act passed on January 18, 1837 the alloy was changed to 10% thus having the effect of containing the same amount of silver but being reduced in weight to 412 1/4 grains of standard silver which was changed to 90% pure and 10% alloy. On February 21, 1853 the amount of silver in the fractional coins was reduced so that it was no longer possible to combine the fractional coins to come up with the same amount of silver that was in the dollar. Various acts have been passed over the years that affected the amount and type of metal in the coins minted by the United States such that today, there is no legal definition of the term "Dollar" to be found in any Statute of the United States. [Sources for this paragraph include the ''United States Statutes at Large'', ''A Guide Book of United States Coins'' by R.S. Yeoman, ''MONEY - Ye shall have honest weights and measures'' by James E. Ewart.] |
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Cuban Iguanas have evolved a white photosensory organ on the top of their heads called the [[parietal eye]], which is also called the third eye, pineal eye or pineal gland.<ref name="Brames"/> This "eye" has only a rudimentary retina and lens and thus, cannot form images.<ref name="Brames"/> It is however sensitive to changes in light and dark and can detect movement.<ref name="Brames"/> |
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Today the closest definition to a dollar comes from the United States code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2, "The Secretary [of the Treasury] '''shall sell silver''' under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce." However [[Federal Reserve System|Federal Reserve banks]] are only prejudiced to deliver tax credits instead of money. The silver content of U.S. coinage was mostly removed in 1965 and the dollar essentially became a baseless free-floating [[fiat currency]]; though the [[United States Mint|U.S. Mint]] continues to make silver $1 bullion coins at this weight. It is believed that the original green color and other specific designs of a paper dollar were introduced by 2 Armenian brothers from [[Massachusetts]] who were Near-Eastern immigrants. {{Fact|date=February 2007}} |
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Primarily [[herbivorous]], Cuban Iguanas are presented with a problem for [[osmoregulation]]: plant matter contains more [[potassium]] and as it has less nutritional content per gram, more of it must be eaten to meet the lizard's metabolic needs.<ref name="Hazard"> |
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{{citation | last=Hazard | first=Lisa C. | title=Sodium and Pottassium Secretion by Iguana Salt Glands | work=Iguanas: Biology and Conservation | publisher=University of California Press | pages=84–85 | date=2004 | isbn=9780520238541 }}</ref> As these iguanas are not capable of creating liquid urine more concentrated than their bodily fluids, they excrete nitrogenous wastes as urate salts in the same manner as birds, through a [[salt gland]]. <ref name="Hazard"/> As a result, Cuban Iguanas have developed this lateral [[nose|nasal]] gland to supplement renal salt secretion by expelling excess pottassium and sodium chloride.<ref name="Hazard"/> |
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Continued Chinese demand for silver led several countries, notably the United Kingdom, United States, and Japan to mint [[trade dollar]]s in the 19th and early 20th centuries, often of slightly different weights to their domestic coinage. Silver dollars reaching China (whether Spanish, Trade, or other) were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicated that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine. |
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==Diet== |
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Like all ''Cyclura'' species the Cuban Iguana is primarily [[herbivorous]], 95% of its diet derives from consuming leaves, flowers and fruits from as many as 30 different plant species such as wild thyme, thistle, prickly pear cactus (''Opuntia stricta''), fruits and flowers of black mangrove, leaves of red mangrove, olives, and various grasses.<ref name="isg2"> |
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{{Citation | last = Thorbjarnarson | first = John | title = Observations on the Population of ''Cyclura nubila nubila'' Inhabiting the Mount Cabaniguan Wildlife Refuge, Las Tunas, Cuba |
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| journal = Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 10–12 | date = May 26, 2004 | year = 2004 | url = http://www.iucn-isg.org/newsletters/pdf/ISG_News_7(1).pdf }}</ref> Additionally, 50% of the [[large intestine]] of the Cuban Iguana consists of a colony of [[nematode]]s, which contribute to the digestion of its high [[cellulose]] diet.<ref name ="schettino"/> This diet is rarely supplemented by animal matter, although individuals have been observed eating the corpses of birds, fish and crabs.<ref name ="perera"> |
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{{cite web | title = Cuban Iguana: Cyclura nubila nubila | work = Iguana Specialist Group |
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| url = http://www.iucn-isg.org/actionplan/ch2/cuban.php | accessdate = 2007-08-23 }}</ref><ref name="isg2">{{Citation | last = Thorbjarnarson | first = John | title = Observations on the Population of ''Cyclura nubila nubila'' Inhabiting the Mount Cabaniguan Wildlife Refuge, Las Tunas, Cuba | journal = Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 10–12 | date = May 26, 2004 | year = 2004 | url = http://www.iucn-isg.org/newsletters/pdf/ISG_News_7(1).pdf }}</ref> |
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==Related names in modern currencies== |
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==Mating== |
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*The ''[[Samoan tala|tala]]'' is based on the [[Samoan language|Samoan]] pronunciation of the word "dollar". Likewise, the name of the smaller unit, ''seneiti'', equates to "cent". |
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Male Cuban Iguanas have femoral pores on their thighs, which are used to release [[pheromones]], females lack these pores making the animals [[sexual dimorphism|sexually dimorphic]].<ref name="winker">{{citation | last = Winker | first = Carol | title = Iguanas get royal attention | date = 2/8/2007 | url = http://www.blueiguana.ky/zzzbirp20070208a.htm }}</ref> |
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*The [[Slovenian tolar]] had the same origin as dollar, i.e. [[thaler]]. |
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Sexual maturity is reached at an age of two to three years for these animals.<ref name ="iucn"/> Although observed as being gregarious while immature, the males become aggressive, and vigorously defend territories in competition for females.<ref name="isg2"/> Females seem to remain more tolerant of each other, except after laying their eggs.<ref name="isg2"/><ref name ="schettino"/> |
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==National currencies called "dollar"== |
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Mating occurs in May and June, with individual clutches of 3–30 eggs usually laid in June or July, in nests excavated in pockets of earth exposed to the sun after the [[Cuban Crocodile]]s lay their eggs and away from where the adult populations live.<ref name="isg2"/><ref name ="iucn"/><ref name ="schettino"/> According to field research, the females return to the same nesting sites annually to deposit their eggs in the same nests.<ref name="isg2"/> The nests are built in proximity to each other and this may be due to the fact that suitable nesting sites are becoming rare.<ref name="isg2"/><ref name ="schettino"/> At the San Diego Zoo, a female built a nest at the end of a long chamber she excavated in the sand.<ref name ="schettino"/> She stood near it for weeks vigorously defending it by shaking her head and hissing at anyone who approached it, demonstrating that these animals may guard their nest sites.<ref name ="schettino">{{citation | last = Schettino | first = Lourdes Rodriguez | title = The Iguanid Lizards of Cuba | publisher = University Press of Florida | location = [[Gainesville, Florida]] | pages = 428 | date = 1999 | isbn = 9780813016474 }}</ref> |
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Some of these are called dollars in English, but by a different name in the native language of the country. See the navigational box below for a complete list. |
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The name has also been applied to the [[international dollar]], a hypothetical unit of currency that has the same purchasing power that the [[United States dollar|U.S. dollar]] has in the United States at a given point in time. |
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==Distribution== |
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[[Image:Zoo UL, Cuban Iguana.jpg|thumb|right|Cuban Iguana in the Labem Zoo]] |
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The Cuban Iguana, ''Cyclura nubila'', is naturally distributed on [[Cuba]] and throughout as many as four thousand islets surrounding the Cuban mainland in rocky coastal areas.<ref name="hollingsworth"/><ref name="perera"/><ref name ="schettino"/> Relatively safe populations are found on some islets along the north and south coasts and in isolated protected areas on the mainland.<ref name ="iucn"/> These include Guanahacabibes Biosphere Reserve in the west, Desembarco del Granma National Park, Hatibonico Wildlife Refuge, Punta Negra-Quemados Ecological Reserve, and Delta del Cauto Wildlife Refuge, all in eastern Cuba.<ref name ="perera"/> Because of this wide distribution, accurate information about the number of distinct subpopulations of Cuban Rock Iguanas is unable to be determined accurately.<ref name ="perera"/><ref name="hollingsworth"/> The population on the U.S. Naval Base at [[Guantánamo Bay]] has been estimated at 2,000-3,000 individuals and the animals are treated well and protected by the local residents of the base.<ref name ="iucn"/><ref name="gitmo">Frantom, Todd, 2005. Cuban Sanctuary. All Hands, June 2005</ref><ref name="Nelson"/> |
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==See also== |
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The iguanas tend to burrow in proximity to [[cacti]] or [[thistle]], sometimes within the cacti, itself.<ref name ="isg2"/> The thorny plants offer protection and their fruit and flowers offer the iguanas food.<ref name="isg2"/><ref name="isg1">{{Citation | last = Cabadilla | first = Luis | title = Burrows and Morphology of Cuban Iguanas(''Cyclura nubila'') Inhabiting Cruz del Padre Cays, Sabana-Camaguey Archipelago, North of Matanzas |
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{{portalpar|Numismatics|United States penny, obverse, 2002.jpg}} |
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| journal = Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter | volume = 7 | issue = 1 | pages = 7 |
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* [[Eurodollar]] |
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| date = May 26, 2004 | year = 2004 | url = http://www.iucn-isg.org/newsletters/pdf/ISG_News_7(1).pdf }} |
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* [[Dollar sign]] |
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</ref><ref name ="schettino"/> They also make their burrows in trees and caves.<ref name="isg1"/><ref name ="schettino"/> |
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* [[List of circulating currencies]] |
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In the mid 1960s a small group of Cuban Iguanas was released from a zoo on Isla Magueyes, southwest of [[Puerto Rico]], forming an independent free-ranging feral population.<ref name="christian">Christian, K. A. 1986. Aspects of the life history of |
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Cuban Iguanas on Isla Magueyes, Puerto Rico. Carib.J. Sci., 22, 159–164.</ref><ref name="mayaguez">{{Citation | last =Powell | first =Larkin | title =Puerto Rico field course provides unique opportunity for learning | journal =FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE STUDENT FOCUS | publisher=University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Natural Resources | volume =4 | issue =1 | pages =1 | year =2006 | url = http://snr.unl.edu/undergraduate/downloads/FWStudentFocus/studentfocus2006_spring_legalfold.pdf |
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}}</ref> As of the year 2000, there has been talk of removing or relocating this population of iguanas. |
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==Conservation== |
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[[Image:Kubanische echse.jpg|thumb|right|Cuban Iguana in the wild]] |
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The Cuban Iguana is well established in captivity, both in public and private collections.<ref name="devosjoli"/> Many zoological parks and private individuals have established these animals in captive breeding programs, minimizing the demand for wild-caught specemeins for the pet trade.<ref name="devosjoli"> |
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{{cite book | last =De Vosjoli | first =Phillipe | coauthors = David Blair | title =The Green Iguana Manual | publisher =Advanced Vivarium Systems | date =1992 | location =Escondido, California | isbn = 74886904040 }}</ref> However, in the wild this is a vulnerable species found on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name ="iucn"> |
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{{IUCN2006|assessors=Alberts, A. & Perera, A.|year=1996|id=6045|title=Cyclura nubila nubila|downloaded=25 August 2007}} |
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</ref> The total population of this subspecies in Cuba is estimated at between 40,000 and 60,000 individuals.<ref name ="iucn"/> According to Dr. Allison Alberts, an [[ecologist]] with the [[San Diego Zoo]] and lead researcher in Cuba, among the many wildlife species at GTMO, “The Cuban Iguana is one of the largest, undoubtedly the most visible, and certainly the most charismatic. It seems that no one completes a tour of duty at GTMO without getting to know these [[prehistoric]]-looking giants.”<ref name="Nelson"/> |
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===Reasons for decline=== |
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In general the species is in decline, more quickly on the mainland than in other areas.<ref name ="iucn"/> The iguanas are now absent from the northeastern [[Havana]] coast, the Hicacos peninsula and Cay Largo, where they were known to be very abundant some 30-40 years ago.<ref name ="iucn"/> Mainland populations have probably been declining at a rate of greater than 1% per year for the last ten years.<ref name ="iucn"/> |
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Populations of Cuban Iguanas are being impacted by direct predation by feral animals such as rats, cats, and feral pigs which eat their eggs.<ref name ="iucn"/> Their habitat in some areas is being degraded by overgrazing of farm animals and development.<ref name ="malone"> |
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{{citation | last = Malone | first = Catherine | last2 = Davis | first2 = Scott | title = Genetic Contributions to Caribbean Iguana Conservation | work = Iguanas: Biology and Conservation | publisher = University of California Press | pages = 45–57 | date = 2004 | isbn = 9780520238541 }}</ref><ref name ="iucn"/> |
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===Recovery efforts=== |
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[[Image:peso.jpg|thumb|left|100px|Cuban Iguana depicted on a 1985 commemorative [[Cuban peso]]]]. |
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In 1985 the Cuban government issued a commemorative peso depicting the image of a Cuban Iguana on the "Head" side of the coin in an attempt to raise awareness for this animal. |
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In 1993 the San Diego Zoo developed an experimental "head-starting" program for newly hatched Cuban Iguanas with funding from the National Science Foundation’s Conservation and Restoration Biology Program.<ref name="alberts">{{citation | last = Alberts | first = Allison | last2 = Lemm | first2 = Jeffrey | last3 = Grant | first3 = Tandora | last4 = Jackintell | first4 = Lori | title = Testing the Utility of Headstarting as a Conservation Strategy for West Indian Iguanas | work = Iguanas: Biology and Conservation | publisher = University of California Press | pages = 210 | date = 2004 | isbn = 9780520238541 }}</ref><ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="alberts"/> "Head-starting" is a process by which iguana eggs are hatched in an incubator and the animals are protected and fed for the first 20 months of their lives.<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="alberts"/> The purpose is to get the animals to a size where they are more capable of fleeing from or fighting off predators.<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="alberts"/> This technique was originally used to protect hatchling [[sea turtles]], however Dr Alberts used it for the first time on a ''Cyclura'' species with the Cuban Iguana.<ref name="alberts"/> The purpose was to not only help the Cuban Iguana population, but also to act as an experiment as the population was not as critically endangered as other species of ''Cyclura''.<ref name="alberts"/> |
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The program proved successful with the iguanas reacting to predators, foraging for food, and behaving like their wild-born counterparts.<ref name="alberts"/><ref name="isg1st"> |
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{{Citation | title = Taxon Reports | journal = Iguana Specialist Group Newsletter |
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| volume = 1 | issue = 1 | pages = 3 | year = 1998 | url = http://www.iucn-isg.org/newsletters/pdf/WIISG_News_1(1).pdf }}</ref> This program has been implemented with great success on other critically endangered species of ''Cyclura'' and ''[[Ctenosaura]]'' throughout the West Indies and [[Central America]], notably the [[Cyclura collei|Jamaican Iguana]], [[Blue Iguana]], [[Cyclura ricordi|Ricord's Iguana]], [[Cyclura cychlura inornata|Allen Cays Iguana]], [[Cyclura rileyi rileyi|San Salvador Iguana]], and [[Cyclura pinguis|Anegada Iguana]].<ref name="Nelson"/><ref name="alberts"/> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{refbegin}} |
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{{Wikispecies|Cyclura nubila}} |
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* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=buck&searchmode=term Etymonline (word history)] for "buck" and [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=dollar&searchmode=term Etymonline (word history)] for "dollar" |
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* [http://thesaurus.reference.com/search?q=dollar Thesaurus (synonyms)] |
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==External links== |
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* [http:// |
* [http://www.thesource4ym.com/teenlingo/ The Source: Slang Dictionary] |
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{{refend}} |
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* [http://www.iguanafoundation.org/article.php?articleID=50 International Iguana Foundation Article on Cuban Iguanas] |
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* [http://php.indiana.edu/~emartins/Melissa/alberts2.html Guided by Nature: Conservation Research and Captive Husbandry of the Cuban Iguana] |
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* [http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-82645 Cuba: Its Tropical Islands and Animals. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online] |
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{{dollar}} |
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==Further reading== |
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<div class="references-small"> |
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* Alberts,Allison C.(Editor), Carter,Ronald L.(Editor), Hayes, William K.(Editor), Martins ,Emilia P. (2004). ''Iguanas : Biology and Conservation''. University of California Press |
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* Malone, C.L., Wheeler, T., Taylor, J.F. and Davis, S.K. (2000). ''Phylogeography of the Caribbean Rock Iguana (Cyclura): implications for conservation and insights on the biogeographic history of the West Indies''. |
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* Schwartz, A. and M. Carey (1977). ''Systematics and evolution in the West Indian iguanid genus Cyclura''. Fauna Curaçao Caribbean Islands. |
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* Schettino, Lourdes Rodriguez. (1999). The Iguanid Lizards of Cuba. Florida University Presses |
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</div> |
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{{Iguanidae}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Currency]] |
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[[Category:Numismatics]] |
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Revision as of 03:29, 10 October 2008
 | This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (August 2008) |
The dollar (often represented by the dollar sign: "$") is the name of the official currency in several countries, dependencies and other world regions. All nations that have the dollar as their currency have their notes and coins in circulation containing various metals and substances.
History
The German name Thaler came from the Bohemian coin minted from the silver from a rich mine at Joachimsthal - Jáchymov (St. Joachim's Valley) in Bohemia north of Karlovy Vary (Karlsbad). Not long after issuance, these coins gained the name Joachimsthalers. From there, coins gained the name "thaler" regardless of the issuing authority.[1] The name is historically related to the tolar, in Germany Reichsthaler, Slovenia (Slovenian tolar) and Bohemia, the daalder in the Netherlands and daler in Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. "Guildiner" can be traced to 1486 when Archduke Sigismund of Tyrol, a small state north of Venice, issued a dollar-sized coin which was referred to as a "guildiner". Silver supplies were small which limited coinage.[2]
The Dutch lion dollar circulated throughout the Middle East and was imitated in several German and Italian cities. It was also popular in the Dutch East Indies as well as in the Dutch New Netherlands Colony (New York). The lion dollar also has circulated throughout the English colonies during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Examples circulating in the colonies were usually fairly well worn so that the design was not fully distinguishable, thus they were sometimes referred to as "dog dollars."[3] This Dutch currency made its way to the east coast due to the increased trading by colonial ships with other nations. By the mid-1700s, it was replaced by the Spanish 8 reales.[4]
The name "Spanish dollar" was used for a Spanish coin, the "real de a ocho" and later peso, worth eight reals (hence the nickname "pieces of eight"), which was widely circulated during the 18th century in the Spanish colonies in the New World and in Spanish territories in Asia, namely in the Philippines.The use of the Spanish dollar and the Maria Theresa thaler as legal tender for the early United States and its fractions were the mainstay of commerce. They are the reasons for the name of the nation's currency.[citation needed] By the American Revolution in 1775, these Spanish coins became even more important. They backed paper money authorized by the individual colonies and the Continental Congress.[4] However, the word dollar was in use in the English language as slang or mis-pronunciation for the thaler for about 200 years before the American Revolution, with many quotes in the plays of Shakespeare referring to dollars as money. Spanish dollars were in circulation in the Thirteen Colonies that became the United States, and were legal tender in Virginia.
Coins known as dollars were also in use in Scotland during the 17th century, and there is a claim that the use of the English word, and perhaps even the use of the coin, began at the University of St Andrews. This explains the sum of 'Ten thousand dollars' mentioned in Macbeth (Act I, Scene II), although the real Macbeth upon whom the play was based lived in the 11th century, making the reference anachronistic; however this is not rare in Shakespeare's work.
In the early 19th century, a British five-shilling piece, or crown, was sometimes called a dollar, probably because its appearance was similar to the Spanish dollar. This expression appeared again in the 1940s, when U.S. troops came to the UK during World War II. At the time a U.S. dollar was worth about 5s., so some of the U.S. soldiers started calling it a dollar. Consequently, they called the half crown "half a dollar", and the expression caught on among some locals and could be heard into the 1960s.
In the early days of the United States, the term "Dollar" was commonly known as a coin minted by Spain called the Spanish Milled Dollar. These coins were the standard money then in use in the country. On April 2, 1792 Alexander Hamilton, then the Secretary of the Treasury, made a report to Congress that were the result of his task to scientifically determine the amount of silver in the Spanish Milled Dollar coins that were then in current use by the people. As a result of this report, the Dollar was defined (See the Act of April 2, A.D. 1792 of the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, Section 9) as a unit of measure of 371 4/16th grains of pure silver or 416 grains of standard silver. (Standard silver being defined as 1,485 parts fine silver to 179 parts alloy; See Section 13 of the Act.). Therefore paper is not the dollar, instead, it is 'worth', not 'is', 1 dollar (U.S Silver certificate.) In section 20 of the Act, it is specified that the "money of account" of the United States shall be expressed in those same "dollars" or parts thereof. All of the minor coins were also defined in terms of percentages of the primary coin the dollar such that a half dollar contained 1/2 as much silver as a dollar, quarter dollars, 1/4th etc. In an act passed on January 18, 1837 the alloy was changed to 10% thus having the effect of containing the same amount of silver but being reduced in weight to 412 1/4 grains of standard silver which was changed to 90% pure and 10% alloy. On February 21, 1853 the amount of silver in the fractional coins was reduced so that it was no longer possible to combine the fractional coins to come up with the same amount of silver that was in the dollar. Various acts have been passed over the years that affected the amount and type of metal in the coins minted by the United States such that today, there is no legal definition of the term "Dollar" to be found in any Statute of the United States. [Sources for this paragraph include the United States Statutes at Large, A Guide Book of United States Coins by R.S. Yeoman, MONEY - Ye shall have honest weights and measures by James E. Ewart.]
Today the closest definition to a dollar comes from the United States code Title 31, Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2, "The Secretary [of the Treasury] shall sell silver under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce." However Federal Reserve banks are only prejudiced to deliver tax credits instead of money. The silver content of U.S. coinage was mostly removed in 1965 and the dollar essentially became a baseless free-floating fiat currency; though the U.S. Mint continues to make silver $1 bullion coins at this weight. It is believed that the original green color and other specific designs of a paper dollar were introduced by 2 Armenian brothers from Massachusetts who were Near-Eastern immigrants. [citation needed]
Continued Chinese demand for silver led several countries, notably the United Kingdom, United States, and Japan to mint trade dollars in the 19th and early 20th centuries, often of slightly different weights to their domestic coinage. Silver dollars reaching China (whether Spanish, Trade, or other) were often stamped with Chinese characters known as "chop marks" which indicated that that particular coin had been assayed by a well-known merchant and determined genuine.
Related names in modern currencies
- The tala is based on the Samoan pronunciation of the word "dollar". Likewise, the name of the smaller unit, seneiti, equates to "cent".
- The Slovenian tolar had the same origin as dollar, i.e. thaler.
National currencies called "dollar"
Some of these are called dollars in English, but by a different name in the native language of the country. See the navigational box below for a complete list.
The name has also been applied to the international dollar, a hypothetical unit of currency that has the same purchasing power that the U.S. dollar has in the United States at a given point in time.
See also
References
- ^ Rhodes, Richard (1986). The making of the atomic bomb. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 118.
- ^ Julian, R.W. (2007). "All About the DOLLAR". Numismatist. p. 41.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help) - ^ Lion Dollar - Introduction
- ^ a b Julian, R.W. (2007). "All About the Dollar". Numismatist. p. 41.
{{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires|magazine=(help)
- Etymonline (word history) for "buck" and Etymonline (word history) for "dollar"
- Thesaurus (synonyms)
- The Source: Slang Dictionary