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Eponyms are important tools for biologists in the Global South

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1164–1165 (2023)Cite this article

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Guedes et al.1 argue that eponymous scientific names, despite their long tradition in biology, have no place in the modern world. They want to erase eponyms assigned to species in the past and want scientists to stop naming new species after people. Both of these proposals would hurt science, and disproportionately hurt science in the Global South — the region that is supposed to be the primary beneficiary of their proposal.

As Guedes et al. recognize, naming species after people has always been a powerful tool that biologists have used to thank their patrons, recognize their field assistants and honour their colleagues or loved ones. This is the highest honour that an individual biologist can bestow on a person; we have very little else at our disposal. In recent years some biologists have also used the naming of species to raise funds for research and, especially, for conservation. Guedes et al. mentioned the auctioning of names by the Rainforest Trust. Fundación EcoMinga2 —an Ecuadorian non-governmental organization that is managed by some of us — was the beneficiary of two naming auctions for species new to science3,4. With these funds the foundation was able to pay for journal publication fees so that the resulting articles would be open access as well as pay for some of the logistics of the investigations. Most importantly, we were able to use the funds to help to directly conserve many hundreds of hectares of the habitats of these very same species. In many megadiverse countries of the tropics, funds for these purposes are otherwise scarce or non-existent.

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References

  1. Guedes, P. et al. Nat. Ecol. Evol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02022-y (2023).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fundación EcoMinga, Quito, Ecuador

    Lou Jost, Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig & Marco Monteros

  2. Population Biology Foundation, Grand Junction, CO, USA

    Lou Jost

  3. Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO), Quito, Ecuador

    Lou Jost, Mario Humberto Yanez-Muñoz, Jorge Brito, Carolina Reyes-Puig, Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig & Marco Monteros

  4. Instituto IBIOTROP, Museo de Zoología & Laboratorio de Zoología Terrestre, Colegio de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales COCIBA, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador

    Carolina Reyes-Puig

  5. Instituto Biósfera USFQ, Laboratorio de Biología Evolutiva, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Cumbayá, Ecuador

    Juan M. Guayasamín

  6. Museo de Zoología, Escuela de Biología, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Santiago R. Ron

  7. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Catalina Quintana

  8. Grupo de Investigación en Medio Ambiente y Salud BIOMAS, Carrera de Ingeniería Agroindustrial y Alimentos, Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad de Las Américas, Quito, Ecuador

    Gabriel Iturralde & Luis Baquero

  9. Grupo Científico Calaway Dodson: Investigación y Conservación de Orquídeas del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Gabriel Iturralde, Luis Baquero & Marco Monteros

  10. Reserva: The Youth Land Trust, Washington, DC, USA

    Marco Monteros

  11. UTCEC Herbarium—CAREN/Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi, Latacunga, Ecuador

    Alina Freire-Fierro

  12. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA

    Alina Freire-Fierro

  13. Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, MO, USA

    Alina Freire-Fierro

  14. Universidad Regional Amazónica Ikiam, Tena, Ecuador

    Alina Freire-Fierro

  15. Unidad de Investigacion, Herbario Nacional del Ecuador Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Quito, Ecuador

    Diana Fernández

  16. Philipps University Marburg, Marburg, Germany

    Glenda Mendieta-Leiva

  17. National Herbarium of Trinidad and Tobago, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    J. Francisco Morales

  18. Lankester Botanical Garden, University of Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica

    Adam P. Karremans

  19. Herbario IBUG, Instituto de Botánica, Departamento de Botánica y Zoología, Universidad de Guadalajara, Centro Universitario de Ciencias Biológicas, Agropecuarias y Ambientales, Nextipac, Zapopan, Mexico

    J. Antonio Vázquez-García

  20. Departamento de Botánica, Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico

    Gerardo A. Salazar

  21. Herbamo, Mexico City, Mexico

    Eric Hágsater

  22. HUH Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Eric Hágsater

  23. Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional unidad Oaxaca, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Oaxaca, México

    Rodolfo Solano

  24. Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán A. C. (CICY), Mérida, México

    Germán Carnevali Fernández-Concha

  25. Grupo GIVE, Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físico-Químicas y Naturales, Instituto ICBIA (UNRC-CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina

    Marcelo Arana

Authors
  1. Lou Jost
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  2. Mario Humberto Yanez-Muñoz
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  3. Jorge Brito
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  4. Carolina Reyes-Puig
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  5. Juan Pablo Reyes-Puig
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  6. Juan M. Guayasamín
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  7. Santiago R. Ron
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  8. Catalina Quintana
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  9. Gabriel Iturralde
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  10. Luis Baquero
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  11. Marco Monteros
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  12. Alina Freire-Fierro
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  13. Diana Fernández
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  14. Glenda Mendieta-Leiva
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  15. J. Francisco Morales
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  16. Adam P. Karremans
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  17. J. Antonio Vázquez-García
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  18. Gerardo A. Salazar
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  19. Eric Hágsater
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  20. Rodolfo Solano
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  21. Germán Carnevali Fernández-Concha
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  22. Marcelo Arana
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lou Jost.

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Competing interests

Without funds generated by eponyms, Fundación EcoMinga might not have been able to continue its conservation work. L.J., M.M. and J.P.R.-P. are employees of this foundation. A.F.-F. is a member of the Council of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy.

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Jost, L., Yanez-Muñoz, M.H., Brito, J. et al. Eponyms are important tools for biologists in the Global South. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1164–1165 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02102-z

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