Some plants and animals have popular names based on the person who discovered, developed, or bred them. This is especially true for flowers and trees such as Abbott Pink, a Bluebonnet developed by Carroll Abbott. Organisms are sometimes named after someone who is not the discoverer or creator. Goffin`s cockatoo (Lophochroa goffini) was named by its discoverer in honor of a close friend. Several recently discovered insect species have been named after celebrities such as comedians Laurel and Hardy, rock musician Mick Jagger and billionaire Bill Gates. A colloquial name often contains a descriptive term that refers to appearance or behavior. The howler monkey or Alouatta caraya takes its name from the extremely loud call it emits while the clouded leopard gets its name from the cloudy spots on its gray or brown skin. The electric eel or electrophorus electricus is named for its ability to deliver shocks, and the walking stick insect (Diapheromera femorata) is named for both its behavior and appearance. Efforts to unify the English names of amphibians and reptiles from North America (northern Mexico) began in the mid-1950s. [25] The dynamic nature of taxonomy requires regular updates and changes in the nomenclature of scientific and common names. The Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR) published an updated list in 1978,[26] which largely followed previously established examples, and subsequently published eight revised editions, which ended in 2017. [27] More recently, SSAR has moved to an online version with a searchable database. [28] The standardized names of amphibians and reptiles of Mexico in Spanish and English were first published in 1994,[29] with a revised and updated list published in 2008.
[30] A set of guidelines for creating English names for birds was published in The Auk in 1978. [31] This led to Birds of the World: Recommended English Names and its Spanish and Français companions. From time to time, the Academy of the Hebrew Language publishes short dictionaries with common names in Hebrew for species found in Israel or neighboring countries, for example for Reptilia in 1938, Osteichthyes in 2012 and Odonata in 2015. 68. Any friend of science should oppose the introduction into a modern language of plant names that do not already exist, unless they are derived from a Latin botanical name that has undergone only a minor change. Should we prohibit the invention of names called vulgar names, which are completely different from Latin names? The audience they are addressing does not take advantage of them because they are novelties. Lindley`s work, The Vegetable Kingdom, would have been more appreciated in England if the author had not introduced as many new English names as are not found in any dictionary and which do not exclude the need to learn which Latin names they are synonymous with. One can give a tolerable idea of the danger of too many vulgar names by imagining what geography would be, or, for example, postal administration, provided that each city has a completely different name in each language. In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a common name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or peasant name) is a name based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrasted with the scientific name of the same organism, which is Latinized. A common name is sometimes commonly used, but this is not always the case. [1] Sometimes common names are created by public authorities on a particular topic to allow the public (including interested parties such as fishermen, farmers, etc.) to refer to a particular type of organism without having to remember or pronounce the Latinized scientific name. The creation of an “official” list of common names can also be an attempt to standardize the use of common names, which can sometimes be very different from one part of one country to another, and from one country to another, even if the same language is spoken in both places.
[3] In scientific binomial nomenclature, names are usually derived from classical or modern Latin or Greek or Latinized forms of popular words or coins; Such names are usually difficult for laypeople to learn, memorize, and pronounce, and so biologists often publish lists of commonly-made names in books such as field guides. Many examples of such common names are simply attempts to translate the Latinized name into English or another colloquial language. Such a translation may be confusing or inaccurate in itself,[14] For example, gratiosus does not mean “graceful” and gracilis does not mean “graceful.” [15] [16] Animals and plants are known by different names. The scientific names of organisms are usually derived from Latin, while the common or colloquial name is usually in the regional language.
