How to find a translation for the name of a plant, animal etc in Google

By Maria Eugenia Farre

This is the quickest way I know.

1. Go to Google or use the Google Toolbar.

2. On the search box enter the term you are searching for (preferably between quotation marks) and the
expression "scientific name" (in the source language of the term) between quotation marks.

For example:

If you are translating Galapagos Fur Seal into Portuguese enter

"Galapagos Fur Seal" "scientific name". (no need to add the boolean operator AND if you're searching on
Google)

or

If you are translating morera negra from Spanish enter "nombre cientifico".

3. Click on Search. The very first results will show you that the scientific name for Galapagos Fur Seal is
Arctocephalus galapagoensis and that the scientific name for Morera negra is Morus nigra. Click on a
couple of results to check and don't forget to gauge the reliability of the source. (more on that on a
coming Howto).

4. Go to the search box again and enter the scientific name and a domain delimiter for example site:.br
or (Brazil) .pl (Poland). For added reliability you can try the university domain restriction, for example
usp.br or unicamp.br, or if you're working into English, .edu

If you use this technique your search box will look something like this

"arctocephalus galapagoensis" site:.br

or

"arctocephalus galapagoensis" site:usp.br OR site:.unicamp.br (to restrict the search to two of the top
Brazilian universities
or for the second example

"morus nigra" site:es

OR

"morus nigra" site:.cl or

"morus nigra" site:.ar or

"morus nigra" site:ve

(if you want to know how morus nigra is called only in Chile, Argentina or Venezuela).

OR

"morus nigra" site:.us

(to restrict the search to US government sites)

5. Click on Search.

6. You will find that the translation of arctocephalus galapagoensis is leão-marinho das Galápagos and
that morus nigra is black mulbery in the US.

Note: If it's a really tricky term with variations in common name and scientific name or inconclusive
results are obtained on Google, it may be necessary to make a verification search on either Google
Images or AlltheWeb images to make sure that the animals look the same. Sometimes that is the only
way to verify the correct translation is being used.