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Change in biological nomenclature is overdue and possible

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1166–1167 (2023)Cite this article

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Guedes and colleagues1 note the growing dissonance between, on the one hand, historical and current practices in the scientific naming of biological organisms and, on the other, efforts to acknowledge and address prevalent shortcomings. As with others2,3, they argue for a more-inclusive, equitable and diverse nomenclatural practice that — as part of our work in science — we are mandated to uphold even by our granting agencies (for example, the ‘Tri-Agency EDI Action Plan 2018–2025’). These arguments are not rhetorical attempts to politicize science. Instead, they reflect an increasingly urgent call for structured change2,3,4,5 — despite attempts6 to pre-emptively stifle the discussion by invoking immutable principles of scientific nomenclature that have served to pit existing practice against ethics. We agree with Guedes and colleagues1 about the need to change, and support their intention to find a solution. However, we propose a slightly different model — one that rests on more flexible and more inclusive scientific-naming structures.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Mirjana Roksandic, Predrag Radović, Joshua Lindal & Ivan Roksandic

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Mirjana Roksandic & Joshua Lindal

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Charles Musiba

  4. Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia

    Predrag Radović

  5. National Museum Kraljevo, Kraljevo, Serbia

    Predrag Radović

  6. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xiu-Jie Wu

  7. Ria Olivier Herbarium, Department of Botany, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa

    Estrela Figueiredo & Gideon F. Smith

  8. Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Christopher J. Bae

Authors
  1. Mirjana Roksandic
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  2. Charles Musiba
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  4. Joshua Lindal
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  5. Xiu-Jie Wu
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  6. Estrela Figueiredo
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  7. Gideon F. Smith
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  8. Ivan Roksandic
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  9. Christopher J. Bae
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mirjana Roksandic or Christopher J. Bae.

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Roksandic, M., Musiba, C., Radović, P. et al. Change in biological nomenclature is overdue and possible. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1166–1167 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02104-x

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