Behind the times in a big way...

[Mister Internet]

Hey All,

My wife and I spent the weekend in Washington, DC, and one of our stops was the American Museum of Natural History. We have a great NH museum in Chicago, so we were really only going there to see the Hope Diamond and leave... however, once I saw the "bug" exhibit, I had to go.

Anyway, the exhibit area was nice enough... they had a centipede, tarantula, and an AGB milli on display. However, the tarantula was labeled as "Mexican Orange-Kneed Tarantula (Euthalus smithii)", and the centipede, a GORGEOUS banded morph Scolopendra heros arizonensis, wasn't labeled at all.

Anyway, I was under the impression that the genus for smithi had been revised some 17 years ago... is it possible that they've simply had this specimen that long and never updated the labeling?? Seems odd that a museum would be this far behind the times...

 

[AllenG]

u filled them in on their need for correction i hope?

 

[Vys]

Hm, well normally its great for them to keep what's old I suppose, and maybe they felt the old name was worthy of conservation? Although probably, they're just behind current times.

 

[WYSIWYG]

Originally posted by Vys
Hm, well normally its great for them to keep what's old I suppose, and maybe they felt the old name was worthy of conservation? Although probably, they're just behind current times.

I think they should still update the name. They can always use the "FKA" name for "formerly known as" to keep it recorded.

Wysi

 

[Mister Internet]

Originally posted by AllenG
u filled them in on their need for correction i hope?

No... spending 2 hours of my already limited weekend in DC waiting around for some curator to show up and debate with me on this subject is not my idea of a good time. I may write a letter, but I highly doubt anyone's life will impacted in the slightest bit if the name stays as it is. I just thought it was humorous.

 

[Immortal_sin]

our local Portland zoo is using the same genus name for their B smithi as well.
They ignored me completely when I tried to correct them
Guess I should have copied the publication for proof, but I don't really care that much LOL

 

[SpiderTwin]

I think it just goes to show how interested people are in certain types of creatures. If they did their homework and were really interested in the creatures they were displaying, the name would probably be correct and up to date.

If any of us worked there, you know it would be right.

 

[skadiwolf]

human stupidity will hopefully one day cease to amaze me, but i really doubt it. what a tragedy when a science institution doesn't update their knowledge and then transfers that erroneous information to the public. they have a responsibility.