Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Correspondence
  • Published:

People-inspired names remain valuable

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 7, pages 1161–1162 (2023)Cite this article

Subjects

We respect the concerns raised by Guedes et al.1 regarding the problematic history of scientific names given to honour colonizers of the past. Their arguments, however, are informed by a narrow focus on a relatively small group of species (terrestrial African vertebrates). Considered outside of this view, their recommendations appear inconsistent and impractical. Moreover, their proposal to rename all organisms that currently bear eponyms would result in a massive diversion of scarce taxonomic resources from a more-pressing global challenge: to scientifically describe the world’s biodiversity to help to avoid its loss.

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants recommends (rec. 20A.1 h) against naming genera for people who are unconnected with natural science and proposals have been made to extend this to all taxonomic levels6. No similar recommendations exist in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. We urge taxonomic communities to take the opportunity of increased interest in names to discuss best practice for scientific naming and develop recommendations for the future, just as Linnaeus did in the 18th century7. Likewise, research organizations may consider developing policies and guidance for their researchers and students.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Proportion of eponyms in species of plants and fungi from Brazil and terrestrial vertebrates in Mozambique.

References

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

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Antonelli, A. et al. State of the World’s Plants and Fungi 2020 (Royal Botanic Gardens, 2020).

  3. Stork, N. E. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 63, 31–45 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Cheek, M. et al. Plants People Planet 2, 371–388 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Hammond, P. in Global Biodiversity (ed. Groombridge, B.) 17–39 (Springer, 1992).

  6. Mosyakin, S. Taxon 71, 1333 (2022).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Von Linné, C. Critica Botanica (Wishoff, 1737).

  8. Farooq, H., Azevedo, J. A. R., Soares, A., Antonelli, A. & Faurby, S. Syst. Biol. 70, 623–633 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK

    Alexandre Antonelli, Shiran Gu, Lovanomenjanahary Marline, Mark Nesbitt, Tuula Niskanen & Oscar A. Pérez-Escobar

  2. Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Alexandre Antonelli & Harith Farooq

  3. Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Alexandre Antonelli

  4. Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Harith Farooq

  5. Faculty of Natural Sciences, Lúrio University, Cabo Delgado, Mozambique

    Harith Farooq

  6. Department of Botany, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Matheus Colli-Silva

  7. Institute of Systematic Botany, The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY, USA

    João P. M. Araújo

  8. Department of Animal Biology, Institute of Biology, Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil

    André V. L. Freitas

  9. International Center for Tropical Botany at The Kampong, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Elliot M. Gardner

  10. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Olwen Grace

  11. South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China

    Shiran Gu

  12. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Shiran Gu

  13. Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre, Antananarivo, Madagascar

    Lovanomenjanahary Marline

  14. National Herbarium of Cameroon, IRAD, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jean Michel Onana

  15. Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jean Michel Onana

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

    Charlotte Taylor

  17. Natural History Museum, London, UK

    Sandra Knapp

Authors
  1. Alexandre Antonelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Harith Farooq
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Matheus Colli-Silva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. João P. M. Araújo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. André V. L. Freitas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Elliot M. Gardner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Olwen Grace
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Shiran Gu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Lovanomenjanahary Marline
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Mark Nesbitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Tuula Niskanen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Jean Michel Onana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Oscar A. Pérez-Escobar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Charlotte Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Sandra Knapp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors discussed and agreed on the contents of this paper. A.A. and S.K. led the writing, with contributions from all authors. H.F. and M.C.-S. compiled the data and performed the analyses.

Positionality statement: we are botanists, mycologists and zoologists from the Global South and Global North, several of us with experience in scientifically describing new species and handling species descriptions for journals. The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of our organizations.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Alexandre Antonelli or Sandra Knapp.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

A.A. is Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where researchers describe many new plant and fungal species to science every year. S.K. is the Acting Past President of the International Association for Plant Taxonomy and the President of the Nomenclature Section of the 20th International Botanical Congress. The other authors declare no competing interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary Data. Supplementary Table 1. Supplementary Table 2. Supplementary Methods. Supplementary References

Supplementary Table

Source data for Figure 1A (sheet 1), Source data for Figure 1B and 1C (sheet 2)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Antonelli, A., Farooq, H., Colli-Silva, M. et al. People-inspired names remain valuable. Nat Ecol Evol 7, 1161–1162 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02108-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02108-7

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing