So, Dr. Schauber, with this logic you advocate not italicizing scientific names and never capitalizing genus, family, order, whatever? Because when I write about hemionus or cervidae I'm not writing about just any mammal, and it's only the tyranny of biologists that keep those conventions alive.
Of course then, I started this incorrectly by that logic too - dr. schauber (because I'm not talking about just any schauber, I know who I'm talking about). Yes, I'm being silly, but I'm applying the logic you outlined. There may be other reasons to cap or not to cap - newspapers don't do it for any animal, as I've been told over and over by my Communications Major museum editors. Trained as an ornithologist, it drives me nuts, but I live with it. Robert Hole, Jr. On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 2:08 PM, Eric Schauber <schau...@siu.edu> wrote: > When I write about white-tailed deer I do not mean any deer with white on > its tail. Similarly, when I write about a spotted salamander, I do not mean > any salamander with spots, nor with spicebush swallowtail, nor a fat > pocketbook mussel. > > Only with birds is this tyranny of capitalization held up as gospel. I > think we can all agree that respect for scientific authority is valued by > those who study all types of animals, so let's just come out and admit that > it's a socially enforced convention among ornithologists to require > capitalization. > > -- > Eric Schauber > > Wildlife Ecologist -- Coop. Wildlife Research Lab > Associate Professor of Zoology > Center for Ecology > Southern Illinois University Carbondale > (618) 453-6940 > (618) 453-6944 (fax) > > > On Mon, Oct 5, 2009 at 12:13 PM, David Anderson <dand...@tigers.lsu.edu>wrote: > >> It is important to separate vernacular names from professionally designated >> common names assigned to species. The American Ornithologists' Union is the >> authority that names birds in North America, and names of birds are >> capitalized: Chipping Sparrow, Lovely Cotinga. These names are associated >> with taxonomic binomials consistent with the recognized status of species. >> A chipping sparrow is any sparrow seen chipping. A Chipping Sparrow refers >> to Spizella passerina. All cotingas are lovely indeed, but only Lovely >> Cotinga refers to Cotinga amabilis. Birds have many common names. A "hoot >> owl" means nothing in particular. A "rain crow" is a Common Nighthawk. >> When popular magazines, e.g., National Geographic, Audubon, incorrectly >> refer to chipping sparrows and lovely cotingas they are ignoring the >> scientific authority and tradition that separates vernacular from science, >> and in so doing they blur the boundary between common and scientific >> observations and knowledge. >> >> >> >> David L. Anderson >> Ph.D. Candidate >> Museum of Natural Science >> Louisiana State University >> 225-578-5393 >> dand...@tigers.lsu.edu >> http://www.museum.lsu.edu/Anderson/index.htm >> > > > > > > > > -- > Eric Schauber > > Wildlife Ecologist -- Coop. Wildlife Research Lab > Associate Professor of Zoology > Center for Ecology > Southern Illinois University Carbondale > (618) 453-6940 > (618) 453-6944 (fax) > >
