Why do People Do That ??

[Professor T]

Originally posted by BigSam
Why do people call tarantulas by there science name?? Isn't that why people made common names so you could use them?? I just don't get it Could people please explain to me why you do this?? :?

BigSam,

You ask a simple question and you get great feedback from every angle anybody could think of on the topic. The Arachnoboard Community gave you great answers.

Besides the numerous problems with common names, that problem is magnified in the Phylum Arthropoda . There have been 900,000 different species of Arthropod that have been given scientific names (genus & specific epithet). There are at least that many that remain undescribed. The Class Arachnida alone has 70,000 plus different species described.

Compare this with the nearly 7,000 different species of reptiles, and you can see why common names are easier to use with reptiles. That being said, even with reptiles there is a huge communication barrier using common names from region to region. Go outside the country and the problem grows.

So its not that Arachnoculturists are trying to be difficult, its the Arachnid diversity that makes communication difficult.

 

[MizM]

It's just too bad we can't name them:

The Bob Species
The Jane Species
The Red Species

Familiar names, easy to remember!

But, hey, consider it a chance to learn some Latin! Learning something new is ALWAYS fun! (If you're not in high school, that is! )

 

[Godzilla2000]

Originally posted by BigSam
Why do people call tarantulas by there science name?? Isn't that why people made common names so you could use them?? I just don't get it Could people please explain to me why you do this?? :?

Have you ever gone into a petstore and seen some of the wacky common names Petstore owners tag on certain Tarantula species?

 

[skadiwolf]

reptile names can also be very different from country to country...so people refer to them using scientific names also. however, in that case we use:

Species subspecies

this saves a LOT of trouble. now, you might have to spend a few minutes looking up the common names at first when you get familiar with either Ts or reptiles, but believe me, in the long run it saves a huge amount of confusion.

just look at Red-Tail Boas. these can be either Boa Constrictor Imperator (smaller, more brownish-dark in color) or Boa Constrictor Constrictor (what some call 'true' red-tails that retain the lighter grayish colors and the deeper red and whites of the tails, also quite a bit larger and sometimes more defensive)

they come from all different regions as well...the difference in the Imperator or Constrictor endings there is two different sides of a mountain range! so, as you see, it can be infinitely more helpful.

in that case, you might get a smaller, more docile snake as opposed to one that could get quite a few feet larger AND be more temperamental.

scientific names allow for no confusion, thusly, no error.