capitalizing vernacular [English] names

[Edwards Jr, G.B.]

I agree with Karl.  Sorry, Fred, but I think you're going overboard
here.  In addition, many, perhaps most, common names use a general
category as the last term, such as 'bearded weevil.'  There are
thousands of species of weevils.  I don't see how you can justify
capitalizing such a word.  As for your example, the names of any person
are proper nouns, it has nothing to do with a historical perspective.
In fact, it is a (more or less) unique identifier for an individual, not
a species.  Maybe you're suggesting we should emulate the German
language and capitalize all nouns?

-- 
G. B. Edwards, Ph.D.  [Your Friendly Neighborhood Spiderman] 
-- 
Curator: Arachnida (except Acari), Myriapoda, Terrestrial Crustacea,
Thysanoptera 
Florida State Collection of Arthropods, FDACS, Division of Plant
Industry 
P.O.Box 147100, 1911 SW 34th St., Gainesville, FL 32614-7100 USA 
(352) 372-3505 x194; fax (352) 334-0737; edwardg at doacs.state.fl.us 
http://www.fsca.entomology.museum/Arachnida/ArachnidaFrame.htm 

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom Discussion List [mailto:TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU] On
Behalf Of Frederick W. Schueler
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 1:30 PM
To: TAXACOM at LISTSERV.NHM.KU.EDU
Subject: Re: [TAXACOM] capitalizing vernacular [English] names

Piotr Naskrecki wrote:

> Since we are on the subject of vernacular names I would like to ask a
somewhat related question regarding the proper spelling of vernacular
names in English. Should vernacular names be capitalized, and if so,
should all component words be capitalized or just the first one? For
example, the vernacular name of Rhinostomus barbirostris could be
spelled the Bearded Weevil, the Bearded weevil, or the bearded weevil.
Which one of these is the correct one?

* weren't questions like that out-lawed by the land-mine treaty?

I'll say that the practice of lower-casing species is an assertion that
taxa are classes of objects that could be made up anywhere or anytime,
and are due no respect or identity. The English names of species are
capitalized proper nouns.  Capitalization is an assertion that species
are individuals with a particular historical origin, duration, and
extent, a critical acknowledgement of evolutionary history, and an
important advance in the philosophy of biology (Ghiselin 1974, Eldridge
1989). It is perhaps significant that in North American zoology the main
proponent of lower-casing names is the American Fisheries Society, with
exploitation embedded in its name, while the main proponent of
upper-casing species' names is the American Ornithologist's Union, the
first advocates of a group of Animals to band together for their taxon's
own sake.

This usage is the same as that for groups of people. One can become
anglophone or a social democrat by acquiring skills or beliefs, but one
can only become English or a New Democrat by birth or joining a
particular institution. I capitalize the English name of any taxon I
regard as monophyletic: The name of an historic individual is a proper
noun, proper nouns are capitalized, therefore the names of taxa are
capitalized.

QED as far as I can tell, but I know this view is wildly unpopular in
some circles.

fred.
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