Common Names vs Scientific Names

[Bigboy]

Everyone starts with common names, people that are dedicated and want to go further finish with scientific names. Common names are easy for people not used to scientific names. Scientific names provide a host of information in two words to people that understand them.

Stop squabbling, keep learning, keep enjoying the hobby.

 

[Bill S]

I'm learning the scientific names to everything, but I will admit it is embarrassing sometimes talking to someone in person and mispronouncing the scientific names.

Don't worry about it. Some of the people who insist on using their pronunciation aren't pronouncing it correctly according to Latin rules. I remember talking with a well known dealer about a particular species of tarantula I was interested in. I've got enough of a background in languages to know how that genus should be pronounced, but the dealer used a very different pronunciation. We were both stubborn and kept using our own choice of pronunciations, and I think someone watching from the side would have laughed at the "battle of wills".

Use your best guess, do a little research, be ready to adapt and to accept that there will be contrary opinions. (I have a friend from another country who doesn't speak English. When he hears Americans pronouncing scientific names he mutters about them not realizing that Latin is its own language with its own rules. Many Americans try to "Americanize" the Latin to fit their own comfort zones.)

 

[Anastasia]

I'm learning the scientific names to everything, but I will admit it is embarrassing sometimes talking to someone in person and mispronouncing the scientific names.

like Bill said I wouldn't worry about ( I mispronounce English all the time )
unless you on Youtube claims to know it ALL and then stick a foot in the mouth, haha, I seriously wouldnt worry and just back you self up with a comon name, just so much easy to say GBB then Chromatopelma or Blue fang instead of Ephebopus cyanognathus, took me awhile know spellings with out copy them, some of them words to say is a tongue twisters

 

[Kirk]

like Bill said I wouldn't worry about ( I mispronounce English all the time )
unless you on Youtube claims to know it ALL and then stick a foot in the mouth, haha, I seriously wouldnt worry and just back you self up with a comon name, just so much easy to say GBB then Chromatopelma or Blue fang instead of Ephebopus cyanognathus, took me awhile know spellings with out copy them, some of them words to say is a tongue twisters

When I started my ph.d. at the Smithsonian, I pronounced the name of a German polychaete systematist (Augener) as though it was French. My advisor, who is Norwegian, graciously chastised me. That put the fear of god in me to always be careful with pronunciation of personal as well as scientific names.

 

[Anastasia]

When I started my ph.d. at the Smithsonian, I pronounced the name of a German polychaete systematist (Augener) as though it was French. My advisor, who is Norwegian, graciously chastised me. That put the fear of god in me to always be careful with pronunciation of personal as well as scientific names.

in this case, I will cut my tongue off or wont speak again, hahah
Am absolutely horrible with pronunciations wore they scientific names or people names
Good think I dont get out much
Welcome back Dr. Kirk

 

[Lopez]

If you want to hear brilliant pronunciation of scientific names, speak to Volker von Wirth.

"Coremiocnemis" never sounded so right

 

[Rowdy Hotel]

Not to go off on a tangent or bump an old thread, but one of my pet peeves when it comes to selling T's is when a dealer or website has a long list of T's for sale and lists them with their common names first! Sometimes I will just skip the ad entirely. It's such a pain to scroll through a list of common names in search of some T's you're interested in even if the common names are listed alphabetically. I suggest we all list them alphabetically by scientific name, with a common name after if desired.

---------- Post added at 01:03 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 AM ----------

And what's all this talk about pronunciation? Several times I've been to shows in search of T's knowing the scientific name of the spider I'm looking for, but having never heard anyone pronounce it I just pronounced them as I saw fit. The dealer would then say it differently but we know what spider we're each talking about so who cares... really?

The only way I would deem correct would be to pronounce them in Latin, the language they are written in. Seeing how few people know Latin, that's probably not going to happen. Most of the time I hear scientific names they're pronounced in English so you have Latin words pronounced in English and this leads to some being difficult to pronounce.

 

[Falk]

I like that, thats an interesting way of putting it

Not really true, Pink zebra pink zebra beauty for an example doesnt say anything about the specie and the spiders doesnt even look like a zebra. Same with Honduras Curly hair, does not only live in Honduras.
Many of those common names gives should be changed as they give a false face to the birdspider. Besides from that, saying taranula is not really correct either birdspider is the correct common name for a theraphosid.

 

[Anastasia]

Not really true, Pink zebra pink zebra beauty for an example doesnt say anything about the specie and the spiders doesnt even look like a zebra. Same with Honduras Curly hair, does not only live in Honduras.
Many of those common names gives should be changed as they give a false face to the birdspider. Besides from that, saying taranula is not really correct either birdspider is the correct common name for a theraphosid.

well, lets take your example Eupalaestrus campestratus do have stripes on the legs (knees), anything with striping could be a zebra-ish, also could be stripeknee is well (as Eupalaestrus campestratus found Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, common name could be Pink(from pinkish setae) stripeknee) but this tarantula is so known As PZB so most folks know what they are.
And yes some common names aren't great and could of been better at descriptions
but lets agree Curly hair is quite curly and usually called just 'Curly hair'

now, why birdspider?

 

[Falk]

well, lets take your example Eupalaestrus campestratus do have stripes on the legs (knees), anything with striping could be a zebra-ish, also could be stripeknee is well (as Eupalaestrus campestratus found Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, common name could be Pink(from pinkish setae) stripeknee) but this tarantula is so known As PZB so most folks know what they are.
And yes some common names aren't great and could of been better at descriptions
but lets agree Curly hair is quite curly and usually called just 'Curly hair'

now, why birdspider?

Im not good with explanations but i will give it a try. Tarantula comes from the Lycosa tarantula and by misstake some started to call theraphosids for tarantulas as they thought it was the same type of spider. The first common name given to Theraphosidae was birdspider and that is also what the taxonoms use.

 

[Quazgar]

I will give my opinion as a newbie to the hobby. I think that common names would be great IF they were standardized. Unfortunately a lot of common names are just made up by people selling tarantulas as a way of trying to create a flashy label to attract customers. I try to learn all of the scientific names so that if someone does use some new made up name I might still know what it is. The (admittedly few) common names that are somewhat standardized I don't think there's any problem using. I'd even bet that many of those who are most adamantly arguing that common names should never be used has referred to an OBT or GBB.

On the other hand, in my short time here already I have seen many threads about "I was sold this spider as species x but I don't think it is. What is it?" These are often sold using the scientific names incorrectly.

The other problem is there are so many species that are so similar that correct identification takes such subtle distinction that mistaking the ID (whether common or scientific) is very common.

 

[Bill S]

The only way I would deem correct would be to pronounce them in Latin, the language they are written in. Seeing how few people know Latin, that's probably not going to happen. Most of the time I hear scientific names they're pronounced in English so you have Latin words pronounced in English and this leads to some being difficult to pronounce.

The original intent for using Latin was to have a standard that people from all countries and all languages could use as common ground. The scientific name today serves that purpose, but as you mention, English speakers (Americans perhaps more than others) seem to forget that Latin is its own language and assume that the scientific names should be pronounced as though they were strange English names. I don't think this is as bad in other languages/countries, but I'm sure it happens to some extent. (My friends in other countries complain that Americans don't recognize Latin as a language.)

 

[gromgrom]

i think the only three common names i use are OBT, GBB, and Blue Fang, just because.

 

[Rowdy Hotel]

I'll never call them bird spiders seeing how tarantulas don't really eat birds. They will, no doubt, should one fall into their lap, but they don't actively seek them. Then again, what someone wants to call mygalomorphs doesn't really matter to me, it's the common names that can be applied to more than one species or the made up ones that bother people. I'm not even sure why people even feel obligated to immediately create a common name for a spider that doesn't have one because it's new to the hobby or what not. Probaby just to make some more sales to those new people who don't know/care for scientific names.

 

[ArachnoYak]

We must all keep in mind that binomial nomenclature isn't just limited to the world of arachnids. It would be in the best interest of anyone wanting to know more about the natural world to familiarize themselves with scientific names. Plants, animals, fungi, etc. every species has one specific name recognized worldwide.

 

[Anastasia]

Im not good with explanations but i will give it a try. Tarantula comes from the Lycosa tarantula and by misstake some started to call theraphosids for tarantulas as they thought it was the same type of spider. The first common name given to Theraphosidae was birdspider and that is also what the taxonoms use.

so is the baboon spiders (just because they are African species)
I really doubt name birdspider more valid /or proper then Tarantula ah, at least not in the hobby level

 

[Bill S]

I'll never call them bird spiders seeing how tarantulas don't really eat birds.

If you are going on strike against common names that contain false information, you've got quite a road ahead of you. Roadrunners do not run along roads, black bears are not always black, bald eagles are not really bald, Gray wolves are not always gray, tarantula hawks are not hawks, gold fish are not gold, etc., etc. Might as well just shrug and accept it.

 

[Zoltan]

Good examples there Bill, there's an organism, Polingenia longicauda, its common name in Hungarian is "Tiszaflower" (Tisza being a river), and it's not a plant but an insect.

Theraphosidae have been observed eating birds in the wild on more than one occasion. I have a few literary references saved somewhere on this computer. While I'm not sure what the first "common" name given to theraphosids was, I know what was the first binomial name given to a theraphosid: Aranea avicularia, and according to Thorell: "deriv: avicularius (bird-keeper), in the signification adopted, bird-catcher". If you don't like the name birdeater/birdspider, know you are using it whenever you say/write Avicularia. Birdspider(/bird eating spider) is a traditional name for theraphosids. However, contrary to what Falk stated, I've seen taxonomists use birdspider as well as tarantula, not to mention baboon spider, in peer-reviewed articles.

 

[Rowdy Hotel]

Good examples there Bill, there's an organism, Polingenia longicauda, its common name in Hungarian is "Tiszaflower" (Tisza being a river), and it's not a plant but an insect.

Theraphosidae have been observed eating birds in the wild on more than one occasion. I have a few literary references saved somewhere on this computer. While I'm not sure what the first "common" name given to theraphosids was, I know what was the first binomial name given to a theraphosid: Aranea avicularia, and according to Thorell: "deriv: avicularius (bird-keeper), in the signification adopted, bird-catcher". If you don't like the name birdeater/birdspider, know you are using it whenever you say/write Avicularia. Birdspider(/bird eating spider) is a traditional name for theraphosids. However, contrary to what Falk stated, I've seen taxonomists use birdspider as well as tarantula, not to mention baboon spider, in peer-review articles.

I have no qualms whatsoever with avicularia meaning bird spider seeing how it is a scientific name and not a common name. If someone called tarantulas frog spiders because they've been observed eating frogs I wouldn't use that common name but if it was worked into a scientific name I would be all for it and advocate its use. I'm sure there are lots of scientific names out there which are based on common names not aptly applied to their species. Again, what's matters most is what people call individual species, not so much what people want to call mygalomorphs in general.

 

[Jared781]

Why are Scientific names always changing if they're that important?