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Inclusive and productive ways forward needed for species-naming conventions

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1168–1169 (2023)Cite this article

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Guedes and colleagues’ call1 to eliminate taxonomic eponyms stems from intense ongoing debates2,3,4. The International Code on Zoological Nomenclature Commission has categorically stated that it will not do this (discussed more thoroughly in ref. 4); doing so would eliminate the stability that the code provides and would sow chaos at a time when scientists must work together to mitigate the biodiversity crisis and bolster public confidence in science. Accordingly, any solutions to the debate must be mindful of global scientific and taxonomic practice.

Removing existing eponyms would wipe out many names that honour local researchers, historical figures, cultures and potentially places2,4, which have become more common — replacing historic trends that predominantly honoured a less diverse set of persons1. Given the recentness of the trend to prioritize Indigenous names in taxonomy2, lower- and middle-income countries with a taxonomic infrastructure that has been established relatively recently5 would be especially affected by the loss of eponyms, as there might be no existing synonyms to replace eponyms or possible replacements might themselves be eponyms. In this context, researchers from higher-income countries with more funding and infrastructure might then have advantages in the race to rename species.

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References

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Whitmore and D. Yanega for their comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Michael C. Orr, Rafael R. Ferrari, Arong Luo & Chao-Dong Zhu

  2. Entomologie, Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

    Michael C. Orr & Hossein Rajaei

  3. School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Alice C. Hughes

  4. Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, School of Biology, Museum of Zoology, Quito, Ecuador

    Omar Torres Carvajal & Santiago R. Ron

  5. Environmental Science Training Center, Federal University of Southern Bahia, Porto Seguro, Brazil

    Rafael R. Ferrari

  6. Center of Excellence in Entomology and Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

    Natapot Warrit

  7. Zoological Museum, Biodiversity Unit, Faculty of Science, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Alireza Zamani

  8. Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Yuanmeng Miles Zhang

  9. State Key Laboratory of Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chao-Dong Zhu

  10. College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Chao-Dong Zhu

Authors
  1. Michael C. Orr
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  10. Yuanmeng Miles Zhang
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  11. Chao-Dong Zhu
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Contributions

M.C.O, A.C.H. and C.-D.Z. conceived the paper. M.C.O. led the writing. A.C.H., O.T.C., R.R.F., A.L., H.R., S.R.R., N.W., A.Z., Y.M.Z. and C-D.Z. contributed to discussions and provided significant inputs on at least one near-final draft.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Michael C. Orr or Chao-Dong Zhu.

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Orr, M.C., Hughes, A.C., Carvajal, O.T. et al. Inclusive and productive ways forward needed for species-naming conventions. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1168–1169 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02103-y

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