Why you should care deeply about primate eponyms with Dr. Elaine Guevara

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This episode is all about where, how and why primates got their names!

No, we won't be talking about popular primates like Kanzi the bonobo or Pan-kun (if you're in Japan), but rather the terms we use for the common and scientific names of primates across their taxonomy.

Dr. Elaine Guevara is a Lecturer in Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University's Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, and in 2021, she coauthored a study published in the International Journal of Primatology called “Whom do primate names honor: rethinking primate eponyms” (Open Access), along with Chloe Chen-Kraus, Casey Farmer, Katherine Meier, David P. Watts & Jane Widness.

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Eponym (noun): one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named.
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In the interview, we do a deep dive into primate names and the various contexts within which they are given. Key topics of discussion include:

• colonial roots of primate naming
• honorifics, hero worship and challenge of getting it right
• decolonizing science and having dialogues toward greater inclusivity in science and society
• Verreaux's sifaka, Geoffroy's spider monkey, Dian's tarsier and the Bemaraha woolly monkey (a.k.a. Avahi cleesei), whose epithet (species name) honors John Cleese!
• pronunciation and the challenge of Anglicization
• better ways to name as conceived by the international primatological community

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CORRECTION
At 1:00:02 of the interview Elaine notes that the term 'maias' - suggested by JM Rubis (2020) to replace the established common name orangutan - is an indigenous Malay term, when in fact it is the term used by the Iban, a group indigenous to the island of Borneo.
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For more information, and to contribute to understanding primate names and what we should do about them, explore these links!

• Primate Eponyms website - learn more about primate namesakes and contribute if information for your species is missing!
• Survey for primatologists (at all career stages!) where you can provide your thoughts on primate eponyms. CLICK HERE!
• The orang utan is not an indigenous name: knowing and naming the maias as a decolonizing epistemology (Paywall) by Jane M. Rubis (2020).
• Decolonizing the Ourang-Outang (Open Access) by Maeve Fairbanks,  Luke D. Fannin & Nathaniel J. Dominy (2022) published in the International Journal of Primatology.

The PrimateCast is hosted and produced by Andrew MacIntosh. Artwork by Chris Martin. Music by Andre Goncalves.

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