Taxacom: Taxacom Digest, Vol 199, Issue 4

[Peter A Rauch]

Ziv, All,
Geographical/Political Entity names are referenced as primary (meta-?)data
in the practice of "taxonomy" --biological specimens come from some "place"
(a geo/political locality). The taxonomic interpretation of the
evolutionary history of a taxon, as well as the naming of taxa,  draws upon
those geo/political data (as well, for many taxa, their names are drawn
from people who the taxonomist may wish to associate with the beast and to
memorialize by use of their names).

In recent years, there has been much said about the (in)appropriateness of
using certain geo/political/personal names to name taxa. Along with the
consternation expressed about this (in)appropriateness, there has been the
call to change those taxa's names to "appropriate" ones. It is felt that
there are *many* names "needing" to be changed in this regard.

So, yes, choosing names of taxa is a pursuit of taxonomists --in a special
(arcane?, imperfect?) framework of attempting to reflect (evolutionary?,
closeness of?) relationships. To the degree that widespread changing of
taxon names up and down the classification ladder of Life might create a
situation too chaotic to serve the principal objectives and services of
Taxonomy, TAXACOM is indeed a suitable forum for its discussion --not as a
"political debate" per se, but in whatever interest of Taxonomy (esp.
Taxonomy's service to Humanity and Biodiversity Conservation) the debate
may serve.
Peter R.

On Sat, Nov 12, 2022 at 3:49 PM Ziv Lieberman via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> Is taxacom a forum for political debate about an unspecified "agenda" that
> apparently doesn't relate to taxonomy? I think John's points are worth
> thinking and talking about, and there's a connection between naming
> practices for geographical/geological entities and biological
> nomenclature.
> Not sure about this reply though.
> -Ziv
>
> On Sat, Nov 12, 2022 at 10:00 AM <taxacom-request at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
>
> > Daily News from the Taxacom Mailing List
> *...cut,cut...*
> > Today's Topics:
> >
> >    1. Imperial naming (John Grehan)
> >    2. Re: Imperial naming (John Grehan)
> >    3. Re: Imperial naming (Nicolas Bekkouche)
> >
> > Message: 1
> > Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2022 22:24:16 -0500
> > From: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
> > To: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> > Subject: Taxacom: Imperial naming
> > Message-ID:
> > CADN0ud2Cvs0zwbsORGPnvAM3LvmZ8gQsbv0tybeCxG+xofXCrQ at mail.gmail.com>
> >
> > As I expect most would agree, names can be a way of asserting power. One
> > has seen this often in place names where European names supplanted
> > indigenous names. Interesting in this respect is the naming of the
> > 'Zealandia' continent. Perhaps makes sense in terms of NZ being the
> largest
> > portion above water. But I wonder if New Caledonians were consulted? And
> > now I see that Zealandia is ascribed a Maori name -  Te Riu-a-M?ui. One
> > problem with that. Maori is not the only indigenous culture to the region
> > thus designated. What about the kanaks of New Caledonia? What's the bet
> > they were never consulted? Anyone have any insight into that?
> >
> > John Grehan
> > --
> *...cut,cut...*
> > Message: 2
> > Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2022 00:09:03 -0500
> > From: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
> > Cc: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Taxacom: Imperial naming
> > Message-ID:
> >         <CADN0ud0Sz9-ovYE5TMWGjDPm7K9phyGbV7a_PK=
> >
> > Oops - my apologies in advance. I should have asked whether the French
> had
> > been consulted, since New Caledonia is part of France. Perhaps I should
> > inquire with the French Acad?mie des sciences to see what that
> organization
> > may have to say on this naming matter.
> *...cut,cut...*
> > ------------------------------
> > Message: 3
> > Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2022 07:35:57 +0100
> > From: Nicolas Bekkouche <nicolas.bekkouche at gmail.com>
> > To: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>
> > Cc: taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
> > Subject: Re: Taxacom: Imperial naming
> > Message-ID:
> >         <CADL_ChqMoRn7s1v1=
> > DJ3kKfb4ebEWJ-KpqM49DZTgXxj1psuVQ at mail.gmail.com>
> >
> > I do not represent France, but as a French citizen, I have to say our
> > government is pushing a political agenda I expect to be institutionally
> > quite worse in the future. What can we do to counter it ? I hope this
> will
> > lead to a healthy debate :)
> >
> > Nico
> *...cut,cut...*
>