/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/b3/0e/b30e9bbf-0a34-45cd-a4fe-f95a1b940fe2/gettyimages-1163498728_web.jpg "Potential Reasons Why Certain Scientists Advocate Against Naming Organisms After Individuals | The Science Community")
The goal of naming species is to ensure that scientific names are standardized across different fields and research laboratories. Eponyms, the practice of naming a species after a person, are used to memorialize collectors, family members, benefactors, government leaders, colleagues, and even celebrities. However, the use of eponyms has come under increased scrutiny, with some ornithologists questioning whether birds named after Confederates and slaveholders should be retitled. A recent paper in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution argues that it is time to move away from eponyms entirely. The authors suggest that naming species after individuals is unnecessary and difficult to justify objectively. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and the International Association of Plant Taxonomy follow established codes that prioritize older names and only alter them for reasons of science and stability. Proposals to rename species due to social or political concerns have attracted both criticism and support. The issue is complex, as decisions about which eponyms should be replaced are inherently subjective and open to interpretation. Allowing such revisions at all would affect the work of global researchers and conservationists who depend on a stable taxonomic framework. Nonetheless, some scientists have argued that eponyms are more trouble than they are worth, given that the practice is inextricably bound up with science’s colonial history.
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