[Taxacom] Drosophila melanogaster name change?

[Francisco Welter-Schultes]

> every school text book that mentions the most highly
> studied organism in the planet will have to include an explanation 
> on scientific names an why they sometimes need to change.

This must have referred to Metaplicobaetica sapiens, I suppose. 
Certainly not to Rhodosauroparamegalonurus rex, although this 
organism might be studied more intensively than persons above a 
certain age would probably like to admit.

I cannot say which is the "highest studied" organism, but I did a 
quick research in Google for the most frequently mentioned organisms.

Homo sapiens		25.100.000
Escherichia coli  	8.350.000
Mus musculus		4.110.000
Caenorhabditis elegans 	1.720.000	
Saccharomyces cerevisiae 2.710.000
Trypanosoma brucei 	2.570.000
Arabidopsis thaliana  	2.000.000
Oryza sativa		1.720.000
Drosophila melanogaster 1.550.000	
Zea mays		1.550.000 	
Tyrannosaurus rex	  985.000
Rattus norvegicus	939.000
Bos taurus 		913.000
Xenopus laevis 		884.000
Aedes aegypti 		826.000
Plasmodium falciparum 	819.000

I did not find any other name above 600.000. 
Drosophila melanogaster ranks at number 9.

Francisco

University of Goettingen, Germany
www.animalbase.org