when Wildlife are discovered some of them are names after people who discovered a species like David Atenbrough has had some newly discovered species named after him before for intance for example but interestingly Iv just recoeved news by email from i naturalist since its the end of the year that a new species has been discovered and it was named after i naturalist
Here’s the link.
Recently Described Mexican Plant Named after iNaturalist/Naturalista.mx · iNaturalist
There has been rather a lot of controversy about naming species in recent years. It may be better to go back to the ideas that help with identification such as giving a name that shows a particular characteristic of the species.
you mean names like Red footed falcon or names after a species diet or behaviors like The Bee eater for example
I think miked is referring to the registered species names in latin or greek, such as Geranium argenteum which has silvery leaves (argent means silver).
ok. if thats the case that does makes sense
An issue with large genera is that most of the common descriptive names have already been used in large genera. Malacothamnus is not a large genus, but the 3 latest epithets are enigmaticus (in the olden days neglecta might have been used), astrotentaculatus (long-rayed stellate hairs) and discombobulatus (another variant on neglecta).
Another issue is that one might name a species after a characteristic, only for another species to be found which is better described by the epithet. For example, Cardamine flexuosa is distinguished from Cardamine hirsuta by the former’s hairy stems. (Cardamine hirsuta has hairy petioles; any difference in lamina indumentum is not casually apparent.)
Some of the issues are mentioned in the article here but there are lots of others too.
Agreed. The Cardamine species species you mention are a good example of the problems when naming. Your eponymous Malacothamnus discombobulatus is such a splendid name… a disconcerted Mallow must be a sight to behold; its trauma could be because it is sometimes neglected.
Sometimes there’s a bit of fun in common names… from Wikipedia:
Spilostethus hospes , the darth maul bug , is a species of seed bug in the family Lygaeidae. Its common name is a reference to the Star Wars character Darth Maul, who shares similar markings.
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there are wild animals that can be symbolic either spiritualy like seen as a totem or a guardian or spirit or things that people may think look like a mythological creature and name it afyer a mythological creature one example being unicorns there is a interesting Rhino called the indian Rhino that had the scientific name Rhinocerous unicornis. there is another interesting species with its own story aswell
and Nawal the whale that is also called the Unicorn of the sea. medieval europeans used to belive the Narwals tusks were horns from a legandary unicorn and they used to be hunted for there horns a very long time ago although the Nawals so called horn is actualy a tooth but back then that wasnt known a long time ago but to this day its still called the unicorn of the sea. of course it isnt a unicorn but that is another name for it
Its quiet an interesting topic. That the Rhino used to be Unicornus and the Whale is also named the unicorn of the sea cause it’s named after a mythical creature and its unlikely people will want to change it since the name and history of the whale holds significance since it used to be hunted for what used to be belived to be a horn and people back before they knew what the whale was used to call the horn a unicorn horn and back then unicorn horns were thought to have magical propertys
Halcyon kingfishers are named after a mythical bird that nested on the sea at the winter solstice.
And of course, there are confusing names caused by the lack of knowledge of Linaeus and later taxonomists. Puffinus puffinus is one that springs to mind.
Of course the English name isnt misleading but holds lots of meaning even if a kingfishers scientific name isn’t accurate the English name is accurate and also holds meaning aswell as the scientific name. As in lots of meanings as in the examples in the link and screenshots I hope you find the link and screenshots interesting Iv used as an example. There is also totem meanings and even meanings in dreams and other meanings it’s amazing how much meaning it has for people aswell as there scientific names weather there accurate or not
I hope you find the part about the scientific name interesting aswell
Thanks, Zo, a lot of interesting material there. I didn’t know that the kingfisher was so important in indigenous American culture. I have a friend who belongs to an indigenous community in India. I must ask him if the same is true in his culture.
thats ok. sorry I couldnt reply I have been busy with my family on Christmas day, Christmas eve and boxing day and Iv had my birthday aswell. yes it is very interesting. it will be interesting to find out if it is the same in his culture aswell if you do ask him