An Ardern Insect, a Dicaprio Tree: Scientific names can affect funding and interest

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2023-11-01 11:01

Australia; International

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

What’s in a name? A rose, by any other name, may not necessarily get the same funding and attention, according to international researchers. The team reviewed the history of scientific naming of animals, plants, and other organisms, looking at the consequences of different names. The analysis looked at naming organisms after someone, such as loved ones, fictional characters, or celebrities such as a spider named after Obama, or an insect named after Lady Gaga. They also looked at descriptive names, like a fuzzy barbed wire-like bee, a ‘little elephant’ weevil, and a frog whose name was inspired by the fact that it is difficult to collect. In the review, the team argue that scientists' decisions about naming new species can influence public attention to those species, funding for research and conservation, and even the kind of scientific questions later asked about them.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Naming the menagerie: creativity, culture, and consequences in the formation of scientific names
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Summary: The coining of a new scientific name, to label a newly discovered and described species, is one of the most creative acts in science. We review the history of scientific naming with an emphasis on how this act became so creative, and we discuss some of the consequences of creativity in naming. We document patterns across groups of organisms and through time in how scientific names are composed. We also show that scientists' decisions about naming new species can influence public attention to those species, funding for research and conservation, and even the kind of scientific questions later asked about them.

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Journal/
conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of New Brunswick, Canada

Funder: This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (Discovery Grant funding to S.B.H.).

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