Why do People Do That ??

BigSam

Arachnoprince
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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 :confused: Could people please explain to me why you do this??:confused: :?
 

Immortal_sin

Arachnotemptress
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I will explain why *I* use scientific names...
Common names vary by location, dealer, and everything else you can think of. When I say I have a "chilean rose flame knee whitebanded birdeater", some people will have no clue what I'm talking about!
*you* might know it as the 'rosey banded baboon'. There is NO common ground in common names.
If the scientific name is used, then we *both* know what species we are talking about....
simple, right?!
 

jwb121377

Arachnoangel
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The reason is simple, because there is no guarantee that with common names as to what your getting. Example is the teddy bear tarantula, most would not know what this is. It is in fact Brachypelma albopilosum (true common name curly hair). It is a sure bet that if you buy by scientific you know what your getting. Another example is the pink toe. All the Avicularia could go by the common name pink toe, so if you were to buy one how would you know what you are getting?
 

krystal

Arachnodite
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Jul 18, 2002
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holley is right.

that, and back in the day when arachnopets was just starting up, scott sent all of the members emails warning us that folks who DID NOT use scientific names would be shot in the knees, have vinegar rubbed on the wounds, nursed back to health, then shot again and placed on a bullet (or paraponera clavata) anthill, while he and debby laugh and eat ice cream while they enjoy the stinging action.

and since the mysterious disappearance of "king looey," i've decided to take this threat seriously.
 

Mojo Jojo

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Oh. So that is why King Looey disappeared. I thought that Her Majesty's Royal Navy thing was just some sort of coverup. I guess I was right...;P

Jon
 

defour

Arachnobaron
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Originally posted by krystal
holley is right.

that, and back in the day when arachnopets was just starting up, scott sent all of the members emails warning us that folks who DID NOT use scientific names would be shot in the knees, have vinegar rubbed on the wounds, nursed back to health, then shot again and placed on a bullet (or paraponera clavata) anthill, while he and debby laugh and eat ice cream while they enjoy the stinging action.
Isn't there something about a cape, too? I'd swear I heard something about that, and at first blush it sounds pretty reasonable. Still, there's a little voice in my head that's screaming "SMARTASS!!!! I SMELL SMARTASS!!!!!". It's disconcerting, and I would be totally freaked out if it weren't for the fact that I love that smell. Mmmmmmm... smartass!

Oh, as for scientific names, I agree with the above. There's a veritable metric crapload of info on this topic available elsewhere, from Schultz's tarantula book to any high school bio text. Tarantula keeping would be screwed without scientific names, and that's hardly one of the more important arguments for using them.

Steve
 

krystal

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Originally posted by defour
Still, there's a little voice in my head that's screaming "SMARTASS!!!! I SMELL SMARTASS!!!!!". It's disconcerting, and I would be totally freaked out if it weren't for the fact that I love that smell. Mmmmmmm... smartass!
well that explains the odd smell that permeates the two-block area that surrounds your house! ;)

here's a little helpful scientific name guide for you all--taken from the american tarantula society's website and shown to me by our own arachno733t man, bill.
http://atshq.org/articles/beechwp2.html
and now for the pronunciation of the names:
http://atshq.org/articles/beechwp1.html
 
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Dafne

Arachnobaron
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Mar 11, 2003
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Why do I use scientific names? It is just simple... I do not come from the U.S., so I do not know all your common names... At first when I found Arachnopets and this forum, it was hard for me sometimes to guess what kind of tarantula someone was talking about until I checked the scientific name (knowing the common) on the other side. But of course more time I spend here on this forum, more common names I learn... Anyway, as I have noticed there is more and more people from other countries than the U.S. here on Arachnopets, so it is much easier for all of us "from abroad" to understand the scientific names :)

Here, in Poland, we have common names for T's as well but people use them very rarely. They can be really confusing sometimes.
 

Lopez

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As others have already stated, if I ask a German dealer for a "Brazilian Bluegreen Pinktoed Bird Eating Spider" he's going to look at me blankly or delete my email.
If I ask him for an Avicularia geroldi we have a better chance of reaching some sort of agreement.
Common names are largely BS - they change so often and get bastardised by so many owners and pet shops that their meaning becomes worthless.
 

pelo

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I'm relatively new to the hobby.I wondered the same thing at first.Trust me..after a while the scientific names will become second nature.I recognize the scientific names more readily now than the common names.Like others have said.If you want an accurate description of your T and want to find out info on it...the scientific names are the way to go.Too many common names floating around out there..sometimes the common can be the same for a couple different species.Too confusing and inaccurate.Scientific is the way.You'll get used to it...peace..
 

atmosphere

Arachnoknight
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May 21, 2003
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Recently I went to the pet store that got my G. rosea for me. I asked her if she could get a Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens (greenbottle blue) ,and she called her supplier they had no clue.She then had me get on the phone and describe it the lady said ohh yea we got those we call them blue cobalts. I said no I know what those are I don't want one of those yet. She said well I think thats what your talking about. I gave the phone back to the clerk and have not went back since.Most pet stores don't educate themselves on any of there animals a shame. But my point is I'm new to the hobby as well and already see what these people mean.
 

Code Monkey

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Scientific names are, however unwieldly they appear at first, a far simpler system than common names.

As has been pointed out, whether you're in Germany, Japan, United States, or even Turkey, a Brachypelma smithi is a Brachypelma smithi - and even if the pronunciations might be a bit different from speaker to speaker, the spelling is exactly the same as well. There is no reason why two tarantula enthusiasts from anywhere in the world can't get together and have one another instantly know what the other one is talking about if they stick to scientific names.

Common names, otoh, have only recently had any sort of standardization applied to them in the U.S.. The ATS has tried to establish a set of rules for assigning common names to species names and they've compiled a pretty good list. This does have some advantages in that, in theory, a common name can never change but scientific names can change every year if somebody keeps successfully revising the taxonomy for a given species or even genera.

But, it's not without its problems. First, it's U.S. specific, the BTS actually maintains its own less developed list of their ideas what the common names should be. Then there's countries like Germany which are very active into arachnoculture and observe none of these English based names. Heck, outside of the U.S., most people don't even refer to tarantulas as 'tarantulas' preferring regional or scientific names such as vogelspinnen, mygalamorphs, theraphosids, etc. For better or worse, we Americans are a stubborn lot, and most people do know what a tarantula 'is'.

Second, even when there's an "official" common name, there's no guarantee that anyone will use it. If you want some spider geek amusement, check out how Dr. Breene and Stan Shultz repeatedly correct people that there's no such thing as a Chilean rosehair because the ATS decided that the common name for G. rosea should simply be Chilean rose. Yet, try to find someone besides a few of the ATS diehards who refer to a G. rosea as anything but a 'rosehair'.

Then, as was pointed out, consider the petstores. For every one of them that's good about identifying species names or even the most accepted common name, there's plenty that won't have them labeled at all, or with something they or their distributor made up.

And last, even when everything seems good and kosher, there's still no guarantee that sticking to common names will help you: B. smithi was known for decades as a Mexican redleg in the U.S. Then, for reasons that escape me, somebody decided that the B. emilia deserved the title redleg even though the color is about as red as McDonald's Grimace character - B. smithi got "officially" dubbed the redknee. So, find someone who's "been out of the loop" for some years, or a petstore that odds are never was anywhere near the loop, and if they tell you they have a redleg, good luck figuring out which it is without actually seeing it.
 

MizM

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When I first started in the hobby, THE tarantula was g. rosea. For many years, that's all I had. When I became a fanatic, as you will be soon, I started exploring the web and thought these people were SO ARCHAIC and POMPOUS for using LATIN names. But... I would not purchase a T now without knowing the "scientific" name. The "MOMBASSA GOLDEN TOGO STARBURST USAMBARA BABOON SPIDER" at your local pet store is a GREAT reason NOT to depend on common names!
 

MrDeranged

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Originally posted by Code Monkey


Common names, otoh, have only recently had any sort of standardization applied to them in the U.S.. The ATS has tried to establish a set of rules for assigning common names to species names and they've compiled a pretty good list.
Actually, it's the AAS, the ATS just distributes the list. :)

Scott
 

Code Monkey

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Originally posted by mrderanged
Actually, it's the AAS, the ATS just distributes the list. :)
Dang, you're right. Now it's too late to go back and edit my post to maintain the illusion of infallibility ;P
 

pixi14369

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Plain and simple, it's the right way to do it. Just my opinion though....it's also a great way to find out how much your pet supplier really knows about a T. You can pick out a liar real quickly.
 

Olan

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Another good reason for the Genus, species name of tarantulas is you can know which are closely related to one another. That's just something I like to know.

-Olan
 

Steve Nunn

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It's a shame the AAS commited themselves to a common names list, personally, I'll never understand that. The international community as a whole does not recognise common names (as CM has said) so I'm at a loss as to why the US and UK do. I can understand an attempt to help newbies out ID'ing what they may have, but considering not one single scientific paper uses these names, I'd feel the time the AAS spent on a common names list (and continue to do so) is a waste. This is one move I think sb (Dr. R.G. Breene III) made poorly.

This hobby is still in it's ifancy (relatively speaking) and given the vast number of species already in the hobby I'd think it essential to know both the genus and species of the T's in one's care.

Common names still fail the enthusiast and I'll give a simple example now. There was a post here yesterday where an enthusiast purchased a "goliath tarantula". The spider wasn't T.blondi, as the person had hoped, but Lasiodorides striatus.

Unfortunately, scientific names have recently become flawed too, although to a lesser extent then common names. This has a lot to do with more exprienced enthusiasts and wild collectors or importers stating their beliefs on the placement of a certain species. A good examle of this would be Haplopelma minax, or Ornithoctonus andersoni, or 'Lasiodora cristata'. If you own one of these species, then it's probably not what you think it is. While this is a problem, it is far less of a problem then common names.

Nothing is perfect I guess.......

Steve
 

MizM

Arachnoprincess
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My illusion of your expertise is SHATTERED!!!!:(
 

vulpina

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Yep, you're right Steve. When I purchased the L. parahybana that I have a pic of in my pics thread, it was sold to me as a "Goliath Birdeater". The person whom I purchased it from was told it was a blondi by the store they purchased it from, I had to tell them it was not a blondi, I bought it anyway, but it's another story of confusion.

Andy
 
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