Friday, April 15, 2005
Supercalifragilistictaxonomiwacky
As regular readers will know, I have quite an obsession with strange and unusual happenings in the world of taxonomy. And let me tell you, recently there have been some doozies.
First let me direct your attention to the following paper:
Miller, Kelly B. and Quentin D. Wheeler. 2004. Two new genera of Agathidiini from the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions (Coleoptera: Leiodidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin. 58(4): 466-487.
This paper describes a new genus of beetle, Gelae (pronounced "jelly"). The type species: Gelae donut. You must be friggin' kidding me, people. The etymology states: "This species is named donut, a whimsical arrangement of letters that is pronounced like the English word "doughnut"." Can you guess some of the other species named in this paper? Let's see, there's Gelae rol, G. fish, G. baen, and of course, G. belae. One would think that Miller and Wheeler (entomologists formerly at Cornell) would have been content with such an egregious ruffling of staid entomological feathers (bristles?), but no. They just keep the wackiness right on coming. Note the following paper:
Miller, Kelly B. and Quentin D. Wheeler. 2005. Slime-mold beetles of the genus Agathidium Panzer in North and Central America, Part II. Coleoptera: Leiodidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 291: 1-167.
In said monograph they name the following species: Agathidium bushi, A. cheneyi, and A. rumsfeldi. And it's no wry coincidence, either: "Etymology: This species is named in honor of G.W. Bush (Crawford, TX), President of the United States." These are slime-mold beetles, not the most glorious thing to have named after you, but in interviews the researchers have claimed that they sincerely wish to honor the current administration. Wheeler stated, "We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular."
Species are rarely named after major figures in world politics. In beetles, the only other one that I can think of off the top of my head is Anophthalmus hitleri Scheibel, 1933. I'll leave it at that.
Crazy as all this stuff is, beetle names are a dime a dozen, and are barely known outside of very select circles. A new mammal species, however, is a big deal, and primates especially so. Which is why the following bit of information is so remarkable: recently, the rights to name a newly-discovered species of South American titi monkey were put up for auction. (This is not at all common practice among biologists, who will often name taxa after sponsors and benefactors but rarely indulge in such open namemongering.) The winner? Internet casino GoldenPalace.com. Thus, the official name of this new animal is (drumroll please) The GoldenPalace.com Monkey! (The scientific name will be Callicebus aureipalatii, which translates to pretty much the same thing.) You know, it's the .com that really gets me on that one. Oh, well. This is a clear indication that we are indeed living in the future. Forget flying cars and robots, the day that a monkey is named after an online casino you know that we have decisively entered the futuristic corporate dystopia predicted by so many (thus disproving all of those who argued for futuristic totalitarian dystopia.) Can sponsored years be far behind?
As regular readers will know, I have quite an obsession with strange and unusual happenings in the world of taxonomy. And let me tell you, recently there have been some doozies.
First let me direct your attention to the following paper:
Miller, Kelly B. and Quentin D. Wheeler. 2004. Two new genera of Agathidiini from the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions (Coleoptera: Leiodidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin. 58(4): 466-487.
This paper describes a new genus of beetle, Gelae (pronounced "jelly"). The type species: Gelae donut. You must be friggin' kidding me, people. The etymology states: "This species is named donut, a whimsical arrangement of letters that is pronounced like the English word "doughnut"." Can you guess some of the other species named in this paper? Let's see, there's Gelae rol, G. fish, G. baen, and of course, G. belae. One would think that Miller and Wheeler (entomologists formerly at Cornell) would have been content with such an egregious ruffling of staid entomological feathers (bristles?), but no. They just keep the wackiness right on coming. Note the following paper:
Miller, Kelly B. and Quentin D. Wheeler. 2005. Slime-mold beetles of the genus Agathidium Panzer in North and Central America, Part II. Coleoptera: Leiodidae. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 291: 1-167.
In said monograph they name the following species: Agathidium bushi, A. cheneyi, and A. rumsfeldi. And it's no wry coincidence, either: "Etymology: This species is named in honor of G.W. Bush (Crawford, TX), President of the United States." These are slime-mold beetles, not the most glorious thing to have named after you, but in interviews the researchers have claimed that they sincerely wish to honor the current administration. Wheeler stated, "We admire these leaders as fellow citizens who have the courage of their convictions and are willing to do the very difficult and unpopular work of living up to principles of freedom and democracy rather than accepting the expedient or popular."
Species are rarely named after major figures in world politics. In beetles, the only other one that I can think of off the top of my head is Anophthalmus hitleri Scheibel, 1933. I'll leave it at that.
Crazy as all this stuff is, beetle names are a dime a dozen, and are barely known outside of very select circles. A new mammal species, however, is a big deal, and primates especially so. Which is why the following bit of information is so remarkable: recently, the rights to name a newly-discovered species of South American titi monkey were put up for auction. (This is not at all common practice among biologists, who will often name taxa after sponsors and benefactors but rarely indulge in such open namemongering.) The winner? Internet casino GoldenPalace.com. Thus, the official name of this new animal is (drumroll please) The GoldenPalace.com Monkey! (The scientific name will be Callicebus aureipalatii, which translates to pretty much the same thing.) You know, it's the .com that really gets me on that one. Oh, well. This is a clear indication that we are indeed living in the future. Forget flying cars and robots, the day that a monkey is named after an online casino you know that we have decisively entered the futuristic corporate dystopia predicted by so many (thus disproving all of those who argued for futuristic totalitarian dystopia.) Can sponsored years be far behind?
Comments:
great entry. This reminds me of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, in which all the chronological years are "sponsor years" i.e. the year of Depend Adult Undergarment etc.
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