Sylvatic is a scientific term referring to wild animals, often in context of diseases or pathogens that only affect them (sylvan means forest-dwelling).[1] In the context of animal research, its opposite is domestic, which refers to pets, farm animals or other animals which do not dwell in the wild.
- Examples: sylvatic rabies; sylvatic and domestic bacterial strains; sylvatic yellow fever
The word "sylvatic" is also simply a synonym for "sylvan" (or "silvan") = "of the forest".
The Latin words silvatica, silvaticus of this root are commonly used in biological taxonomy: Rana sylvatica (Wood Frog), agaricus silvaticus (Scaly Wood Mushroom), etc.
References
- ^ Mahy, Brian W.J.; van Regenmortel, Marc H.V. (21 May 2010). Desk Encyclopedia of Human and Medical Virology. Academic Press. p. 483. ISBN 9780123785596.
See also
- Sylvatic cycle
- Sylvatica (disambiguation)