The latest dispute among scientists: Should we change animals' scientific names to reflect societal norms? Or is that giving in to cancel culture?
The names of Hitler, Mussolini, Trump and the three government leaders are still part of the creatures’ formal taxonomies, as are those of fauna named after the colonialist Cecil Rhodes and George Hibbert, a British slaver and plantation owner who also happened to be a scientific amateur and collector.
On the face of it, the issue seems simple. “There should be a mechanism in the zoological Code...to allow for replacement names for biological species that have been named after tyrants, dictators, colonialists and slave traders,” a group of anthropologists, paleontologists and botanistsThe controversy has arisen in part because there are few rules governing the naming of newly-discovered species.
But there are few consistent standards for the species name. The Cornell entomologists who christened the slime mold beetles named other new species after after their wives, Pocahontas, Darth Vader, and the locations where the creatures were first seen. But no universally accepted system exists for reconsidering names that have taken on distasteful connotations.
Botanists have been amenable to renaming species that carry the names of discredited and discreditable individuals; a vote on changes to the naming code is scheduled for a botanical congress next summer. Also at issue for the botanists are a wide variety of plants with scientific names based on an Arabic term for “infidel” that has become a racist slur so noxious that it is treated as hate speech in South Africa and referred to as the “K-word.
The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, which oversees the taxonomy of animal species, has drawn a line in the sand, however. The commission has rejected the very idea of “replacing accepted scientific names because of perceived offensiveness,”Subjecting species names to cultural fashions would undermine the stability in scientific naming, the commissioners stated.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Column: How the media's obsession with Biden's age could help reelect TrumpThe news media keep pushing the idea that Biden's age makes him incapable of serving as president, but that's of a piece with its myth of a 'polarized' America. Both are getting pretty old.
Les mer »
Why a 2024 Trump-Biden rematch might be more of a referendum on Trump than BidenPresidential reelection bids tend to revolve around the incumbent’s performance in office. But a potential rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump could upend that dynamic, polling suggests, with most voters saying their decisions would come down largely to their feelings about Trump.
Les mer »
Column: Chicago Bears outplayed, outcoached, outclassed by Green Bay PackersRemember that brutal season-opening loss to the Packers four years ago? Somehow this felt worse. Much worse.
Les mer »
Column: Encountering a civil rights ally in ColoradoJames “Strider” Benston, 79, a white man who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King at Selma, was beaten by police and threatened by the KKK, shares stories of the civil rights movement.
Les mer »
Column: Highland Park doesn’t deserve scorn for ‘poverty simulation’ planSometimes good intentions just aren’t good enough when it comes to culture wars.
Les mer »
State university faculty not entitled to reimbursement for pandemic-related remote work expensesTwo months ago, this column addressed a California Court of Appeal ruling in Thai v.
Les mer »