Genus Name Abbreviations

[Smotzer]

So I feel like the purpose of this forum using the latin binomial nomenclature is to reduce confusion with the ambiguity with common names. But people here seem to feel free to always abbreviate the genus when ever they feel like it out of conveneince and I feel like that can create just as much confusion with people new to the trade.
In a scientific paper it is not acceptable to abbreviate the genus without having already stated the full binomial nomenclature, that way there is no confusion over the specific species being referred to.

I get that for many of you who are well seasoned and know many of the species specifically and automatically that the abbreviations don't matter, but for new people on here abbreviating the genus before actually stating it creates so much ambiguity! heres an example from the viewpoint of the newcomer:

"you should look at A. marxi for a next tarantula"

for someone new to the trade this could mean-

-Acanthoscurria
-Agnostopelma
-Ami
-Aphonopelma
-Augacephalus
-Avicularia

If you just state that it is specifically Aphonopelma marxi then everyone would know exactly what you mean and then if you want to refer to it again you can abbreviate it A. marxi

I have also seen people refereeing to multiple different genera in the same forum, with the same first letter, all abbreviated. heres an example:

"you should think about getting P. miranda, P. auratus, P. irminia"

for the new comer this is very confusing!! because these species all have different genera. IF you really were too lazy to write the full name out in a scientific paper with multiple genera, (or even with just one genera and species), with the same first letter it is acceptable to abbreviate the genera to 2-3 letters such as:

"you should think about getting Po. miranda, Ph. auratus, Ps. irminia" or "Poe. miranda, Pho. auratus, Psa. irminia"

This is just something to think about to reduce some of the problems with always abbreviating the genus just out of convenience.

 

[Vanessa]

I agree. There are even situations where the species name could apply to more than one genus and it is very confusing. That's why I don't do it, unless the thread has already determined that it is one specific genus or species being discussed.
If someone is asking about what Grammostola is the best for a brand new person, then I will be lazy and just do away with the genus name altogether and use pulchra, pulchripes, porteri alone. Otherwise, I always use the entire genus name so there is no confusion.

 

[Smotzer]

I agree. There are even situations where the species name could apply to more than one genus and it is very confusing. That's why I don't do it, unless the thread has already determined that it is one specific genus or species being discussed.
If someone is asking about what Grammostola is the best for a brand new person, then I will be lazy and just do away with the genus name altogether and use pulchra, pulchripes, porteri alone. Otherwise, I always use the entire genus name so there is no confusion.

I have noticed you often write out the full binomial nomenclature very often and I appreciate it. And exactly there are multiple species names that relate to multiple genera, so it’s important to not abbreviate them just because it is convenient

 

[Kitara]

EDIT: OK.... totally didn't read Vanessa's post before I asked. I should have known it would have already been answered before I asked. LOL


Question (from a newbie): is there another T that is a "marxi?" Meaning, if I Googled marxi, would I find anything other than Aphonopelma? Or, throw any species name in there. When people say "pink toe" it could be any number of Ts, but if someone says geniculata could it be anything other than Acanthoscurria?

For me, all the scientific names are new so I have to Google a LOT. When someone uses the common name, Google may bring up 5 different Ts and I have no idea what they're talking about, but I haven't had that trouble (that I know of) with the scientific name even if just given the first letter of the genus and the species. But... the post made me wonder if I actually am missing the right T if there could be more than one "marxi."

 

[Smotzer]

Question (from a newbie): is there another T that is a "marxi?" Meaning, if I Googled marxi, would I find anything other than Aphonopelma? Or, throw any species name in there. When people say "pink toe" it could be any number of Ts, but if someone says geniculata could it be anything other than Acanthoscurria?

For me, all the scientific names are new so I have to Google a LOT. When someone uses the common name, Google may bring up 5 different Ts and I have no idea what they're talking about, but I haven't had that trouble (that I know of) with the scientific name even if just given the first letter of the genus and the species. But... the post made me wonder if I actually am missing the right T if there could be more than one "marxi."

Not all species names share different genera. But for example in the horticulture world there are tons of different plants sharing the same species name which often comes from where the plant originated from. There are so many different generas that have the species name “chinensis” which means from China. So to Willy nilly abbreviate something as R. chinensis would dictate multiple different plants

 

[Vanessa]

I have seen a lot of people just use 'smithi' alone - assuming that everyone will know that they are referring to Brachypelma and not Poecilotheria. I've also seen 'formosa' used on it's own without someone specifying whether that is Poecilotheria formosa or Grammostola sp. Formosa they are referring to. Same with people using 'metallica'.
It can get very confusing and it is not encouraging anyone to use the proper binomial nomenclature. If people are unsure of how to spell the genus/species names then you can always do a google search and copy and paste them. Put together a .doc with the ones that you use the most and copy and paste them out of that.
Anything other than resorting to common names.

 

[cold blood]

"you should look at A. marxi for a next tarantula"

for someone new to the trade this could mean-

-Acanthoscurria
-Agnostopelma
-Ami
-Aphonopelma
-Augacephalus
-Avicularia

Nope....NONE of those listed has a species marxi. Its very rare to have the same species name in multiple genera.....the only ones I can even think of are pulchripes and gigas...and in these situations, the genus they reside in has a differing first letter, so there should be zero confusion. Literally 2 seconds on google would give you the answer every time if you aren't sure.

 

[nicodimus22]

"you should look at A. marxi for a next tarantula"

for someone new to the trade this could mean-

-Acanthoscurria
-Agnostopelma
-Ami
-Aphonopelma
-Augacephalus
-Avicularia

Honestly, I look at it as part of the learning process. If you google A. marxi, you'll immediately see that it's aphonopelma, because none of the other possibilities exist.

I have spent so many hours of my life googling tarantula species that I've never heard of...I still do it regularly as I browse the Ts available online and discover new ones that I'm unfamiliar with. It's part of the fun of the hobby to me.

You can call the people that don't spell out the entire name lazy, and you can also call out people unwilling to do a 5-second google search to learn about their potential pet lazy as well. <shrug>

 

[Smotzer]

Nope....NONE of those listed has a species marxi. Its very rare to have the same species name in multiple genera.....the only ones I can even think of are pulchripes and gigas...and in these situations, the genus they reside in has a differing first letter, so there should be zero confusion. Literally 2 seconds on google would give you the answer every time if you aren't sure.

Okay you misunderstood me it’s that for the newcomer it is confusing as there are multiple genera that start with A. I was not saying that all those genera had the species Marxi.
I was bringing up the topic that scientifically it is unacceptable to refer to a specific species name by an abbreviation without previously stating the full binomial nomenclature.

 

[cold blood]

Okay you misunderstood me it’s that for the newcomer it is confusing as there are multiple genera that start with A. I was not saying that all those genera had the species Marxi.
I was bringing up the topic that scientifically it is unacceptable to refer to a specific species name by an abbreviation without previously stating the full binomial nomenclature.

I think you missed my point as well....google will give you the correct answer every darn time....if you have access to this site, you have access to google (not you, but anyone).

As said, its all part of the learning process....learn a little about scientific names and there should be no confusion...if you resist scientific names, that's literally the only way it could be a problem. I can say, when I started learning this, I never once saw the confusion you are alluding to.

 

[Venom1080]

Im never going to type out the full genus name if the person can just google it. Those things are long, and autocorrect is annoying. Sorry not sorry.

 

[Smotzer]

Well all I’m saying is it’s a bad habit to just abbreviate out of convenience. I have a degree in horticulture and getting one in entomolgy and it is never acceptable In scientific fields to abbreviate a genus just because you feel like it. Latin nomenclature has rules.
And obviously you can google I get that, it’s just not how you wrote binomial nomenclature correctly. That’s all.

 

[Ungoliant]

I always give the full name at least once in my post; afterwards, I may abbreviate.

I generally know which genus people are referring to when it's followed by an officially recognized species name, but what bugs me is when people abbreviate the genus in unofficial names, such as P. sp. "green" instead of Phormictopus sp. "green". The genus name should not be abbreviated in situations like that.

 

[mjzheng]

I totally get the sentiment I think it's just sometimes a little unreasonable to type it all out . Yes it would never be abbreviated in proper usage but on forums and online it makes more sense. Another thing is some even have shorter nicknames, such as gbb, genic , pokie...it's just part of the hobby to learn the lingo I think i will try to type out full name on ones that can go either way but it's true it is a short Google away

Also re Ungoliants point , agree completely. Anything with "sp xyz" it's so much better to type full genus

 

[Ungoliant]

I totally get the sentiment I think it's just sometimes a little unreasonable to type it all out .

For genera and species I discuss often (such as my own) I have auto-correct "shortcuts" set up in Word so that I don't have to type them out every time. For example, if I type "GBB2", it is replaced with "Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens".

 

[Smotzer]

For genera and species I discuss often (such as my own) I have auto-correct "shortcuts" set up in Word so that I don't have to type them out every time. For example, if I type "GBB2", it is replaced with "Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens".

Exactly! You can set up whatever you use to include the full scientific names! You can add it to your autocorrect as well!

“The full name (e.g., Homo sapiens) should be written out in the Title, the first time it is used in the Abstract, and the first time it is used in the body of the paper. Thereafter the name should be abbreviated as the first letter of the genus name (capitalized) and the complete specific epithet (e.g., H. sapiens)” (Bates, n.d.)

Bates. (n.d.) How to Write Latin Names of Species.. Retrieved from https://abacus.bates.edu/~ganderso/biology/resources/writing/HTWlatin.html#latin

 

[viper69]

This is just something to think about to reduce some of the problems with always abbreviating the genus just out of convenience.

I understand your point. You're right people are lazy, I rarely type full genera names because I like to save time. If the new person is lost, they can take the initiative and ask a follow up question.

I'm not here to make someone's reading easier. Also, while we like to use scientific names, I almost never use the one for a GBB, this isn't a scientific journal.

 

[The Grym Reaper]

-Ami

This genus doesn't exist any more.

but for new people on here abbreviating the genus before actually stating it creates so much ambiguity!

Not really, I was a total noob just under 4 years ago and common names were much more confusing than genera abbreviations.

Question (from a newbie): is there another T that is a "marxi?" Meaning, if I Googled marxi, would I find anything other than Aphonopelma?

No but say, for example, you Googled species that did have the same species name then they would be differentiated by the genus initial so you'll get Harpactira pulchripes results for H. pulchripes and Grammostola pulchripes results for G. pulchripes.


The only species I've encountered an issue with so far is Cyriocosmus elegans because the initialised form links to a species of worm if I remember correctly.

 

[AphonopelmaTX]

I understand your point. You're right people are lazy, I rarely type full genera names because I like to save time. If the new person is lost, they can take the initiative and ask a follow up question.

I'm not here to make someone's reading easier. Also, while we like to use scientific names, I almost never use the one for a GBB, this isn't a scientific journal.

Well, if you can't be bothered to be clear and concise in your questions or statements, then I can't be bothered to take anything you say seriously. That is what goes through my head if I can't figure out what tarantula someone is referring to because they put the burden on me to try and figure out what they are trying to say.

 

[hunterc]

I both agree and disagree..i can see it avoiding alot of the confusion...but at the same time, i learned so much more from that exact confusion..like seeing P.regalis for example, then googling it finding out that the P stood for Poecilotheria but in that same google search finding out about the metallica, formosa, tigrinawesseli, rufilata, ect. Always had the "rabbit hole" effect on me.