Tweaking Taxa

"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." -- Bertolt Brecht

[hawkpartys]

i really like old species descriptions

the species in question

[seabeck]

I’m so close to being the number one observer of banana slugs on iNat. So close I can almost taste it.

[thethirdromana]

Just learned this absolutely delightful bit of etymology:

During the 15th century, the English had an endearing practice of granting common human names to the birds that lived among them. Virtually every bird in that era had a name, and most of them, like Will Wagtail and Philip Sparrow have been long forgotten. Polly Parrot has stuck around, and Tom Tit and Jenny Wren, personable companions of the English countryside, are names still sometimes found in children’s rhymes. Other human names, however, have been incorporated so durably into the common names that still grace birds as to almost entirely obscure their origin. The Magpie, a loquacious black and white bird with a penchant for snatching shiny objects, once bore the simple name “pie,” probably coming from its Roman name, “pica.” The English named these birds Margaret, which was then abbreviated to Maggie, and finally left at Mag Pie. The vocal, crow-like bird called Jackdaw was also once just a “daw” named “Jack.”  The English also gave their ubiquitous and beloved orange-bellied, orb-shaped, wren-sized bird a human name. The first recorded Anglo-Saxon name for the Eurasian Robin was ruddoc, meaning “little red one.” By the medieval period, its name evolved to redbreast (the more accurate term orange only entered the English language when the fruit of the same name reached Great Britain in the 16th century). The English chose the satisfyingly alliterative name Robert for the redbreast, which they then changed to the popular Tudor nickname Robin. Soon enough, the name Robin Redbreast became so identified with the bird that Redbreast was dropped because it seemed so redundant. 

[victusinveritas]

[newspeciespodcast]

A podcast? About New Species?

Hi Tumblr, i'm Zoe and I like to interview scientists about the species they find, identify, and describe.

It turns out there are new species of pretty much everything; mammals, lizards, and beetles but also flowers, deep sea worms, starfish, and even short-tailed whip-scorpions. There are so many stories behind these species too, from the ways that they are named (for Willie Nelson Songs, Warhammer 40k characters, and Icelandic presidents) to the places they are found (in remote Brazilian caves, on top of Mount Olympus, and even in their own backyards).

We also go on some fun tangents, including exploring naming conventions, a deep dive into weevils, and some bonus episodes (free on Patreon) where friends of the pod and I review cheesy horror flicks for scientific accuracy.

I want to help scientists share their work because taxonomy is important. Understanding evolutionary relationships is important. Conservation is important. There are a thousand reasons why the work of finding new species matters, and in these episodes, researchers share them all.

So join us! As we explore the biodiversity of our planet with the scientists who help us better understand it. Edited to add: Website: newspeciespodcast.net RSS: https://anchor.fm/s/3a86c1f0/podcast/rss This podcast is on Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, and Apple Podcasts.

[markscherz]

It's the hoppiest day of the year!

World Frog Day!

Here is a tiny frog from one side of the world:

This is Mini mum. That is a 10 euro cent coin.

And here is a tiny frog from the other side of the world:

This is Microhyla nepenthicola. That is a 50 Malasyian sen coin.

Frogs have evolved to extremely reduced body sizes gobsmackingly often. It is one of the coolest things. And basically every time they do this, they become more similar to one another, and also they lose whole structures, like ears, fingers, and toes.

Isn't it marvellous?

[arqueete]

obsessed with this sign i saw taped up outside the bat room at the zoo yesterday. the enthusiasm, the hand-written note, the bat drawing.

[snugglyaggron]

As most of you are already well aware, South America is an incredibly biodiverse continent. This perhaps goes double for everything that lives in or around the water. Thousands of fish species call the rivers and coastlines home. Many of them resemble each other strongly and seem to have little "purpose", if fish are even supposed to have a purpose. From the perspective of a layperson, especially one already exhausted by current world events, there might not be a visible point in differentiating various species beyond a certain threshold. Who cares about them, anyway?

Let's look at Bryconops chernoffi. It doesn't have a common name. It's named after professor Barry Chernoff, who is responsible for a great deal of research on the taxonomy of the genus Bryconops, as well as contributions to general ichthyological knowledge.

You've probably never heard of this fish. You've probably never heard of Chernoff.

Still, there are people who care enough about this tiny fish from a random Amazonian creek somewhere to name it after someone else who also cares. Professor Chernoff described it as "the honor of a lifetime", and wrote personally to the researchers responsible - Cárlison Silva-Oliveira, Flávio C. T. Lima, and Juan D. Bogotá-Gregory - to thank them. Naming the fish like that is like a little reminder that someone is there for these animals, even if nobody has heard of them before, even if nobody thinks there's any point. We can see them. We can help.

I mean, I guess of all people, I should know that someone cares. I'm the reason all 27 species of Bryconops have a Wikipedia page, after all.

Someone cares.

[smithsonianlibrariesarchives]

An octopus of the species Muusoctopus levis (referred to in the text by the outdated name "Polypus levis") from Carl Chun's The Cephalopoda (1975 translation of 1910-1914 volume). Full text here.

[herpsandbirds]

Dragon Snake aka Javan Mud Snake (Xenodermus javanicus), family Xenodermidae, west Java, Indonesia

photograph by Mark Spence

[markscherz]

I have the great honour of being the custodian of the holotype of this incredible species.

ZMUC-R5941, collected in 1834.

[a-book-of-creatures]

It means it’s the original! When it was formally given a name and a description, this is the specimen they used, and if you’re ever unsure what species you found, this is the baseline to compare to!

[markscherz]

Yes, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, a holotype (or, if multiple individuals, syntypes) is the original reference specimen for a taxonomic name. Not to be considered typical or archetypal in any way, this specimen is simply the anchor of the name (in this case Xenodermus javanicus is the name in question). Anyone wanting to say they have found this species, or thinking they have a different species, must confirm it by checking this specimen. It is the 'name-bearer'. These are the most important specimens in any natural history collection, and some of the most important biological objects in the world.

[acupofpoetry]

On Discovering a Butterfly by Vladimir Nabokov

I found it and I named it, being versed in taxonomic Latin; thus became godfather to an insect and its first describer – and I want no other fame. Wide open on its pin (though fast asleep), and safe from creeping relatives and rust, in the secluded stronghold where we keep type specimens it will transcend its dust. Dark pictures, thrones, the stones that pilgrims kiss, poems that take a thousand years to die but ape the immortality of this red label on a little butterfly.

[tweakingtaxa]

[captainbarrabear]

[bunjywunjy]

great news everyone only the Irish are allowed to name new species, effective immediately. 

[tweakingtaxa]

If it wasn't for the namers where would we be, We wouldn't have synonymy, Each would use his favourite name and all would disagree, If it wasn't for the work of the namers. [...] If it wasn't for the namers where'd we begin to know who was kith and kin? There would be no way to know which clade we're in if it wasn't for the work of the namers.*

Frederick W. Schueler, Taxonomy, as posted to Taxacom on February 11, 2018.

[meangirlnurse]

words i can’t take seriously anymore: 

valid

problematic

[meangirlnurse]

the last one is an issue for me because it gets used a lot with, like, taxonomy? 

like damn who’s gonna write the callout post for these gerbils

[velociraptrix]

@synapsid-taxonomy

[synapsid-taxonomy]

Your fave is problematic: Gerbillus

Has too many species

Seriously it has 39 species

The name sounds like someone trying to come up with a fake Latin word for “gerbil”

Geography has nothing to do with craniomandibular variation

[eartharchives]

California’s goby is actually two different fish

One fish, two fish: California’s tidewater goby is two species.

[steepravine]

Late Night Special: Hummer Humming

(Mount Tamalpais, California - 4/2014)

[lies]

Today’s fun fact: I’ve known the Anna’s Hummingbird since I started birdwatching as a kid. It’s definitely a fave. But I never knew until this morning who the bird’s namesake was.

From Anna’s Hummingbird on Wikipedia:

Anna’s hummingbird (Calypte anna), a medium-sized hummingbird native to the west coast of North America, was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli.[2]

But who was Anna Masséna you ask?

Anne Debelle, Princesse d'Essling (1802 - 1887), was a French courtier. She served as Grand-Maitresse (Mistress of the Robes) to Empress Eugénie de Montijo in 1853-1870.

But but but… That would mean she’s in that famous Winterhalter painting of Eugénie. And so she is!

She’s the lady in the pink dress!  I love that of all of them she’s the one who’s focused, hummingbird-like, on the nearby spray of flowers.

Follow-up fun fact: as Mistress of the Robes, Anna was in charge of Eugénie’s ladies in waiting, controlled the empress’s appointment schedule, and appeared with her at important events. She was about 53 when this painting was made.