The Name Game

[Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX]

Ok, so I like to play with words as well as butterflies, but seriously
folks, on the topic of name genders, here is an interesting reply if this
topic tickles your fancy:
"Norbert: 

Here's the problem. For the past 200 years taxonomists, most of which were
trained in classical Greek and latin,  proposed species names that were
correctly declined to go with the genus name - which was the correct way to
use the Latin language. They also changed the species name if it was
transferred to a different genus as required.  The current "International
Code ... " still says this must be done.  However, there are two problems
with this grammatically correct system.

First, fewer and fewer taxonomists have much training in Latin and 
their ability to properly decline names is becoming pretty thin to say the
least. Taxonomists have been arguing for years what the generic name
Heliothis means and what gender it is (no agreement yet) but its gender is
needed not only to make the species names agree but to also determine what
the genetic plural of the root is so that the correct spelling of the
subfamily name can be determined.  Secondly, in this electronic age of
computers, web sites and data basing Satyrium acadicum and Satyrium acadica
are two different things. 

For both of these issues, there has been growing agreement among butterfly
workers world wide to "ignore" the rules and revert back to original
spellings for species names and to keep them that way no mater what genus
they appear in. Paul Opler (who wrote the western book) is in agreement with
this principle and has gone back to original spellings.  

It would be nice if there could be general agreement among taxonomists and
the "rule" makers to do this so we can all understand what's going on and
get on with it.

Don Lafontaine"



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
Forest Ecosystem Specialist, Ministry of Environment
845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
Phone 250-365-8610
Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca