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Tue Feb 16 13:50:54 CST 1999

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Names to the highest bidder!  from the Nandotimes (www.nandotimes.com)

Audubon Society auctioning off right to name new bird=20

Copyright =A9 1999 Nando Media
Copyright =A9 1999 Associated Press

DALLAS (February 15, 1999 12:28 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - This
auction is for the birds. Really.=20
The Texas Audubon Society plans to sell the rights to name a new species of
bird that was recently discovered to the highest bidder next month. The=
 group
will use the money for bird conservation efforts in Texas and Brazil.=20
Bret Whitney, a bird expert and co-owner of an Austin-based nature tour
company, discovered the new type of bird during a recent expedition in the
Amazon region of western Brazil.=20
According to tradition, Whitney has the right to name the species. Instead,=
 he
donated that right to the Texas Audubon Society, which is auctioning the=
 naming
right March 5 at its 100th anniversary celebration in Fort Worth.=20
Organizers don't believe any species name has ever been bought or given=
 away.=20
Past discoverers have honored loved ones or colleagues by using Latinized
versions of their names as species names, said Noreen Damude, director of=
 bird
conservation for the Texas Audubon.=20
In addition to the naming rights, the winning bidder gets photographs of the
bird, a tape recording of its call and an original oil painting of a male=
 and
female of the species.=20
Damude said she expects that some scientific purists will object to the idea=
 of
hawking a bird's name as if it were an antique sofa. But one authority on
environmental ethics said he thinks Audubon is in the clear.=20
"I'd say that as long as the person who discovered the thing is agreeable,
there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it," said Dr. Eugene Hargrove,
director of the Center for Environmental Philosophy at the University of=
 North
Texas in Denton.=20
That is, he added, "unless it produced a really stupid name."=20

http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,18974-31243-226340-0,00
.html

____________________________________________________

James H. Beach
Assistant Director for Informatics
Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center
Dyche Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045
E-mail: jbeach at ukans.edu
Tel: (785) 864-4645, Fax: (785) 864-5335=20
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<br>
Names to the highest bidder!&nbsp; from the Nandotimes
(<a href=3D"http://www.nandotimes.com/"=
 eudora=3D"autourl">www.nandotimes.com</a>)<br>
<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D5><b>Audubon Society auctioning off right to nam=
e
new bird</b> <br>
<br>
</font><font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>Copyright =A9 1999 Nando Media<br>
Copyright =A9 1999 Associated Press<br>
<br>
</font><font face=3D"arial">DALLAS (February 15, 1999 12:28 p.m. EST
</font><a href=3D"http://www.nandotimes.com/" eudora=3D"autourl"><font=
 face=3D"arial" size=3D2>http://www.nandotimes.com</a></font><font face=3D"a=
rial">)
- This auction is for the birds. Really. <br>
The Texas Audubon Society plans to sell the rights to name a new species
of bird that was recently discovered to the highest bidder next month.
The group will use the money for bird conservation efforts in Texas and
Brazil. <br>
Bret Whitney, a bird expert and co-owner of an Austin-based nature tour
company, discovered the new type of bird during a recent expedition in
the Amazon region of western Brazil. <br>
According to tradition, Whitney has the right to name the species.
Instead, he donated that right to the Texas Audubon Society, which is
auctioning the naming right March 5 at its 100th anniversary celebration
in Fort Worth. <br>
Organizers don't believe any species name has ever been bought or given
away. <br>
Past discoverers have honored loved ones or colleagues by using Latinized
versions of their names as species names, said Noreen Damude, director of
bird conservation for the Texas Audubon. <br>
In addition to the naming rights, the winning bidder gets photographs of
the bird, a tape recording of its call and an original oil painting of a
male and female of the species. <br>
Damude said she expects that some scientific purists will object to the
idea of hawking a bird's name as if it were an antique sofa. But one
authority on environmental ethics said he thinks Audubon is in the clear.
<br>
&quot;I'd say that as long as the person who discovered the thing is
agreeable, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it,&quot; said
Dr. Eugene Hargrove, director of the Center for Environmental Philosophy
at the University of North Texas in Denton. <br>
That is, he added, &quot;unless it produced a really stupid name.&quot;
<br>
<br>
<br>
</font><a=
 href=3D"http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,18974-31243-22=
6340-0,00.html"=
 eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/0,1080,189=
74-31243-226340-0,00.html</a><br>
<br>
<div>____________________________________________________</div>
<br>
<div>James H. Beach</div>
<div>Assistant Director for Informatics</div>
<div>Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center</div>
<div>Dyche Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045</div>
<div>E-mail: jbeach at ukans.edu</div>
Tel: (785) 864-4645, Fax: (785) 864-5335
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