In The Arab World, People Belong To Kinship Groups (lineages And Tribes). Many Lineages Are Named After Animals, Birds, And Plants. Why? This Survey Evaluates Five Old Explanations - Totemism, Emulation Of Predatory Animals, Ancestor Eponymy, Nicknaming, And Bedouin Proximity To Nature. It Suggests A New Hypothesis: Bedouin Tribes Use Animal Names To Obscure Their Internal Cleavages. Such Tribes Wax And Wane As They Attract And Lose Allies And Clients; They Include Attached Elements As Well As Actual Kin. To Prevent Outsiders From Spotting Attached Groups, Bedouin Tribes Scatter Non-human Names Across Their Segments, Making It Difficult To Link Any Segment With A Human Ancestor. Young's Argument Contributes To Theories Of Tribal Organization, Arab Identity, Onomastics, And Near Eastern Kinship-- Provided By Publisher.