Why was G. aureostriata's name changed to pulchripes?

Moakmeister

Arachnodemon
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Oct 6, 2016
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741
The Chaco Golden Knee, Grammostola pulchripes, had a different species name a few years ago, which was aureostriata. Why the name change? I couldn't find any information on the web, and it just makes no sense. First of all, another tarantula has that name already: H. pulchripes, the Golden Blue-Legged Baboon. Second, aureostriata is derived from the Latin words aureus "golden" and striatus "striped". That makes perfect sense, so why change it? Thirdly, aureostriata sounds fifty times cooler than pulchripes.
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
Staff member
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Mar 7, 2012
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4,096
The Chaco Golden Knee, Grammostola pulchripes, had a different species name a few years ago, which was aureostriata. Why the name change?
If there are multiple possible names, the oldest one will generally take precedence. It doesn't matter if the newer name sounds cooler or has a more descriptive meaning.

In this case, Grammostola aureostriata was declared to be a junior synonym of Grammostola pulchripes in 2009.

Gabriel, R. (2009a). Notes on the taxonomic placement of Eurypelma borellii (Simon 1897), and Grammostola pulchripes Simon, 1892 (Araneae: Theraphosidae). Exotiske Insekter 73: 7-13.

First of all, another tarantula has that name already: H. pulchripes, the Golden Blue-Legged Baboon.
Only the binomial (genus + species) must be unique. You can find lots of examples where the species component of the name is used more than once. (This is especially common when species are named after people or places.)
 
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