[Taxacom] Naming species to offend rival taxonomists

[Roxanne Hastings]

Beth:
Here is a list of classics taken directly from Mark Isaak at www.CuriousTaxonomy.net

Aphanus rolandri L., 1758 (seed bug) Rolander was a student of Linnaeus who collected thousands of specimens in Suriname, but refused to turn them over to Linnaeus, intending to publish himself. Linnaeus effectively had him blacklisted and named this bug after him; "aphanus" is from the Greek for ignoble or obscure.

It is alleged that Linnaeus retaliated against his enemies by naming weeds after them, but I know of no such cases. Sigesbeckia L. was so named before Linnaeus and Siegesbeck quarrelled. Bufo L. (toad) is the Latin word for "toad" and was not named for Comte de Buffon, another of Linnaeus's ardent critics. Loeflingia L. (a Spanish weed) was named not after an enemy but after Löfling, a beloved pupil of Linnaeus who died of fever in the course of a botanical expedition to South America.
Dyaria Neumoegen, 1893 (liparid moth) "Honoring" Mr. Dyar. (Probably no insult was intended.)
Commelina Linnaeus (day-flower) Named after the three members of the Dutch Commelin family, two of which prospered. The flower has three petals, one of which is small, pale, and shriveled.
Mosasaurus copeanus Marsh.  Cope and Marsh were paleontologists engaged in a fossil-hunting "war" in the late 1800's. "-Anus" is a Latin word root for "ring", but with another obvious implication.
Anisonchus cophater Cope (Miocene mammal) Edward Cope wrote in a letter to Henry F. Osborn: "Osborn, it's no use looking up the Greek derivation of cophater, ... for I have named it in honor of the number of Cope-haters who surround me...." [Jane Pierce Davidson, 1997, The Bone Sharp; the life of Edward Drinker Cope, Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia Special Publication 17, p. 69]
Foadia Pakaluk, 1985 (beetle) FOAD is an acronym for "F*** Off and Die."
Oxyacodon marshater van Valen, 1978 (fossil mammal)
Phycomyces blakesleeanus Burgeff (filamentous fungus) Burgeff disliked Blakesley.
Dinohyus hollandi Peterson (Miocene entelodont) Named after Carnegie Museum director W. J. Holland, who insisted that he be listed as senior author on every paper written by his staff. The name means "Holland's terrible pig." A Pittsburgh paper announced the discovery with the front-page headline, "Dinohyus hollandi, The World's Biggest Hog!."
Losdolobus Platnick and Brescovit, 1994 (Brazilian orsolobid spider) Platnick and Brescovit wanted to pay tribute to a couple of Argentine guys who helped them and asked them to suggest a name, and they proposed "losdolobus," which loosely translates as "orsolobid of the two guys". ("Los dos" means "the two," and "-olobus" is the ending of all genera in the family.) However, the two guys (Pablo Goloboff and Martín Ramírez) had a double meaning in mind when they proposed it. Letters or syllables are often reversed in colloquial Argentine, so the name also refers to "los boludos," a colloquial term which means "the good-for-nothings." Rosenblattia robusta Mead & De Falla, 1965 (a deep-sea fish) and
Sphoeroides rosenblatti Walker & Bussing, 1996 (eastern Pacific puffer fish) These robust fish were named for Scripps Institution of Oceanography scientist Richard Rosenblatt, who is pretty robust himself.
Shillingsworthia shillingsworthi Girault 1920 (mymarid wasp). Lambasting J. F. Illingsworth, Girault described this wasp as a creature with no head, thorax, abdomen, legs, antennae, or wings (i.e., nonexistent), "blank, vacant, inaneness perfect. . . . Visible only from certain points of view. Shadowless. An airy species whose flight cannot be followed except by the winged mind. . . . This so thin genus is consecrated to Doctor Johann Francis Illingworth, in these days remarkable for his selfless devotion to Entomology, not only sacrificing all of the comforts of life, but as well as his health and reputation to the uncompromising search for truth."
Townesilitus Haeselbarth & Loan, 1983 (braconid) Named after Henry Townes.

Roxy Hastings
Curator of Botany
Royal Alberta Museum

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Beth.Mantle at csiro.au
Sent: Thursday, January 12, 2012 6:58 PM
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: [Taxacom] Naming species to offend rival taxonomists

Hello everyone,

I'm a long-time taxacom lurker and a first-time poster.

I've been invited to write a small popular article on the interesting/lighter side of naming species. I have come across Mark Isaak's great site www.CuriousTaxonomy.net, which has some lovely examples.

However, I recall reading or hearing a story about two rival taxonomists who traded insults with each other by rudely naming new species after the other (along the lines of "this is so named because it is fat and hairy, just like Dr Joe Blogs).

Does anyone recall this? If it is true, and not an urban legend, any pointers to the original tale would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Beth

________________________________
Dr Beth Mantle
Collection Management & Delivery (part-time)
Australian National Insect Collection | Australian National Wildlife Collection
CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences

Executive Officer (part-time) to Joanne Daly - Strategic Advisor
Environment Group - CSIRO

Phone: +61 2 6246 4281 | Fax: +61 2 6246 4264
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