[Taxacom] Dishonorable people as species names

[Kenneth Kinman]

Hi All,
          The ICZN apparently has a rule stating:  "No zoologist should propose a name that, to his knowledge, gives offense on any grounds,"  And yet even Linnaeus himself did this (although it was certainly long before there was such a "rule").
       Below are two weblinks, and in the second one there is a section on "Insulting Puns", one of which is the following:  "Aphanus rolandri Linnaeus, 1758 (seed bug) Rolander was a student of Linnaeus who collected thousands of specimens in Suriname, but refused to turn them over to Linnaeus, intending to publish himself. Linnaeus effectively had him blacklisted and named this bug after him; "aphanus" is from the Greek for ignoble or obscure."
                           ----------------Ken Kinman

https://io9.gizmodo.com/these-scientific-names-were-chosen-purely-to-insult-cer-1691360201


http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/puns/puns.html


________________________________
From: Kenneth Kinman <kinman at hotmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 9, 2019 9:32 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Dishonorable people as species names

Dear All,
       I guess this name is probably still a nomen nudum, but Aidan Bell (owner of EnviroBuild) in late 2018 won at auction (for $25,000) the naming rights for a worm-like amphibian (caecilian) which is “blind and buries its head in the sand”.  He chose the name "Dermophis donaldtrumpi" as an unflattering reference to the U.S. President.  But in the United States, Trump is regarded by millions as a wonderful person, while millions of others think he is awful.
      So will this proposed species name be approved or rejected by peer review?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12/19/blind-worm-like-amphibian-that-buries-its-head-underground-has-bee<https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12/19/blind-worm-like-amphibian-that-buries-its-head-underground-has-been-named-after-donald-trump/>n-named-after-donald-trump/<https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12/19/blind-worm-like-amphibian-that-buries-its-head-underground-has-been-named-after-donald-trump/>

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/dermophis-donaldtrumpi-amphibian-trump/


________________________________
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> on behalf of Geoff Read via Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Saturday, November 9, 2019 12:38 AM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Subject: [Taxacom] Dishonorable people as species names


It's a  tricky one.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/scientists-should-stop-naming-species-after-awful-people/

also the originator:
https://twitter.com/WhySharksMatter/status/1192790203037040647

--
Geoffrey B. Read, Ph.D.
Wellington, NEW ZEALAND
gread at actrix.gen.nz

_______________________________________________
Taxacom Mailing List

Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
For list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit: http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
You can reach the person managing the list at: taxacom-owner at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
The Taxacom email archive back to 1992 can be searched at: http://taxacom.markmail.org

Nurturing nuance while assaulting ambiguity for 32 some years, 1987-2019.