Mexico harbours one of the greatest biocultural diversities of the world, where multiple social and natural elements and systems form complex networks of interactions in which both culture and nature are mutually influenced. Biocultural states and processes are studied by ethnosciences, among them ethnoherpetology, which seeks understanding material and non-material expressions of the interactions between humans, amphibians, and reptiles. Herpetofauna has been part of the magic–religious world and source of goods for Mesoamerican cultures. This study aims to document and analyse the complex body of knowledge, beliefs, and practices on these vertebrates in the Nahua culture, the factors that have influenced progressive risk and loss of culture, habitat, and species, and the potential contribution of contemporary Nahua knowledge to biocultural conservation. Through 15 workshops with children and young people, and 16 semi-structured interviews to people 27 to 74 years old, we documented the contemporary Nahua knowledge in the communities of Aticpac and Xaltepec in the Sierra Negra, Puebla, central Mexico. Biological and ecological knowledge, use, management practices, legends, and perceptions on herpetofauna were emphasised in the study. We obtained an ethnoherpetological checklist, grouping species into four general classificatory categories: kohuatl (serpents), kalatl (frogs and toads), ayotsi (turtles), and ketzo (lizards and salamanders), which included 21, 10, 1, and 11 ethnocategories respectively, based on the local Nahua knowledge of herpetofauna. Serpents, used as medicine, are the most culturally relevant. Due to perceptions of danger, beliefs, and actual snake bites, the main interaction with serpents is their elimination; however, some snakes are tolerated and maintained in captivity. The remaining species of local herpetofauna recorded are tolerated. Cultural aspects of reptiles and amphibians in the Nahua worldview were documented to influence the regulation of interactions of people with these vertebrates, but for younger generations, such aspects are less frequent or absent. Interactions and cultural relationships between the Nahua people, amphibians and reptiles are complex, maintaining some aspects of the local worldview but also influenced by external factors and being constantly recreated and re-signified. Documenting and understanding the contemporary relations is essential to generate strategies in biocultural conservation of herpetofauna.

中文翻译：

---

纳瓦生物文化的丰富性：民族爬虫学的视角

墨西哥拥有世界上最大的生物文化多样性之一，其中多种社会和自然元素和系统形成了复杂的互动网络，其中文化和自然相互影响。生物文化状态和过程由民族科学进行研究，其中包括民族爬虫学，它寻求理解人类、两栖动物和爬行动物之间相互作用的物质和非物质表达。爬行动物一直是魔法宗教世界的一部分，也是中美洲文化的商品来源。本研究旨在记录和分析纳瓦文化中关于这些脊椎动物的复杂知识、信仰和实践，以及影响文化、栖息地和物种的渐进风险和丧失的因素，以及当代纳华知识对生物文化保护的潜在贡献。通过 15 次针对儿童和年轻人的研讨会，以及对 27 至 74 岁人群的 16 次半结构化访谈，我们记录了墨西哥中部普埃布拉州塞拉内格拉的 Aticpac 和 Xaltepec 社区的当代纳瓦知识。研究强调了对爬行动物的生物和生态知识、使用、管理实践、传说和看法。我们获得了一个民族爬虫学清单，将物种分为四个一般分类类别：kohuatl（蛇）、kalatl（青蛙和蟾蜍）、ayotsi（海龟）和 ketzo（蜥蜴和蝾螈），其中包括 21、10、1 和 11 个种族类别分别基于当地纳瓦人对爬行动物的了解。蛇，用作药物，是最具有文化相关性的。由于对危险的看法、信仰和实际的蛇咬伤，与蛇的主要互动是消灭它们；然而，有些蛇被容忍并被圈养。当地记录的其他爬行动物物种是可以容忍的。纳瓦世界观中爬行动物和两栖动物的文化方面被记录到影响人类与这些脊椎动物互动的调节，但对于年轻一代来说，这些方面不太频繁或不存在。纳瓦人、两栖动物和爬行动物之间的互动和文化关系是复杂的，在维护当地世界观的某些方面的同时，也受到外部因素的影响，并不断被重新创造和重新表示。