How Do Animals Get Their Scientific Names?

The person who discovers a new species gets to name it -- but what do 'new' and 'discover' mean here? And do all names get approved? Learn how scientific naming and taxonomy work in this episode of BrainStuff (plus, meet a fish named after Greedo).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,
Lauren Vogelbaum here, and I'm here today to tell you
that an oddball catfish species first spotted in Brazil at
last has a name, and it is Grito. Yes, as
in the Rhodean bounty hunter in Star Wars. More formally,

(00:23):
the catfish whose bug eyed stare and droopy chin like
extension really do bring to mind. Grito will henceforth be
known as Pacaldia grito I. That final e sound in
Latin is a possessive, so it means something like Grito's
fish one. Dr Jonathan Armbrester, professor and curator of Fishes
at Auburn University and longtime Star Wars fan, created the

(00:43):
name while studying the fish in It's about one of
forty species of fish he's named to date. By tradition,
whoever discovers a new species gets to name it. The
discovers doesn't necessarily mean fines, though Armbrester explained discovery is
a weird term. I discovered P. Grido I and a jar,
but others actually discovered it in nature. They just didn't

(01:04):
have everything they needed to describe it. Armbrester did, describe it.
He discovered the nature of the species. The new part
of new species is weird too. In this context, Armbrester explains,
a new species is one that is newly described and named.
Of course, it existed before scientists got involved. Describing a
new species is a science in itself. In taxonomy, which

(01:27):
is the scientific discipline of classifying living things, scientists examined physical, genetic, behavioral,
and ecological traits to logically situate a species within the biosphere.
Taxonomy is a big deal. It reveals how a new
species fits into our known world and provides a universal
language to describe and study it. Taxonomy lays out the
components of biodiversity and thus the tools to preserve it.

(01:50):
It offers scientists, engineers, and inventors their best chance at
understanding the incredible capabilities of the natural world and explaining
it to the rest of us. Naming is part of taxonomy.
A name often reflects a distinctive characteristic, like the name
tatter Rita braziliensis for a bat discovered that lives in Brazil.
There's a lot of leeway in naming, though, and scientists

(02:12):
often get creative, like P. Grito I for a fish
that looks like Grito or Miotis Midas tactus for a
bat with golden fur after mythologies golden touched King Midas.
This approach can sometimes be problematic, though, but we spoke
with Dr Ricardo Morritelli, a biologist with the Oswaldo Cruz
Foundation who named the Golden bat. He explained a characteristic

(02:33):
that we first think is unique to that species may
be revealed as shared with others or even variable within
the species. For instance, the aforementioned Tea braziliensis was later
found to live throughout North and South America, resulting in
subspecies like Ta Braziliences mexicana or the Mexican Brazilian free
tailed bat. Other names honor colleagues, immortalized family members, or

(02:56):
less common but more compelling exact revenge scientists. Orleannais, who
in the seventeen hundreds founded the taxonomy and nomenclature systems
still used in biology today, named an entire genus of
wreaking weeds Segis Beckia after one Johann Sigi Spec, a
botanist who had endlessly criticized his work. The International Commission

(03:17):
on Zoological Nomenclature needs to approve names but the organization
is pretty open minded. It approved said vicious i and
Johnny rotten i for two species of extinct trilobite named
by a taxonomist whose friend loved the sex pistols. It
also gave the nod to Agathedium bush i, A Cheney i,
and A. Rumsfeld i for three species of beetle. The

(03:39):
Republican taxonomist actually meant it as a good thing. It
also approved Ampulex dementor for a wasp that turns cockroaches
into zombies before eating them. The behavior apparently recalled Harry
Potter's spirit sucking adversaries. That last one was chosen in
a vote by visitors to Berlin's Museum of Natural History.
Some scientists are giving away their name rights to educate, engage,

(04:01):
and fund research and conservation. Berlin's museum patrons learned about
the new wasp and taxonomy and its critical role in
conservation as part of the voting. The Script's Institution for
Oceanography sales naming rights for five thousand to twenty five
thousand per species, with the proceeds supporting the institution's work.
And that's a bargain at a two thou five auction.

(04:21):
The online Golden Palace Casino paid sixty five thousand dollars
for the rights to name a species of monkey, supporting
the national Park in Bolivia where the new monkey was discovered.
This commercialization makes some in the field uncomfortable with money
in the mix. There's concern about biased taxonomy. Armbresterer said
it has the possibility of getting out of hand. Buying

(04:42):
a name is a good thing as long as it
is for a species we have already identified as new.
We need more money for taxonomy. Finding creative ways to
fund the science is a good thing. By the way,
Golden Palace named the monkey calla cibis Auri palate i
Auri plate, meaning Golden Palace in Latin. The casino wanted
dot com in there too, but it couldn't be latinized.

(05:08):
Today's episode was written by Julia Layton and produced by
Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart
Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots
of other well categorized topics, visit our home planet, how
stuff Works dot com, and for more podcasts from my
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