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Issue: Vol. 10 No. 1: 31 October 2023
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2023-06-13
DOI: 10.11646/megataxa.10.1.4
Page range: 20–25
Abstract views: 3814
PDF downloaded: 1919

Policing the scientific lexicon: The new colonialism?

Fish Section, Australian Museum, 1 William St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia; Wildlife Heritage Trust, 1 Lake Crescent, Colombo 00200, Sri Lanka
Nomenclature Woke Marginalization Victimhood Scientific terminology

Abstract

Several recent authors have called for the revision of the common and scientific names associated with taxa, as well as scientific terms, that may be construed as offensive (e.g., Hammer & Thiele, 2021; Cheng et al., 2023) or inappropriate (e.g., Gillman & Wright, 2020; Guedes et al., 2023). These proposals have been met with resistance, for example by Palma & Heath (2021—indigenous names), Mosyakin (2022—botany), Slabin (2023—philosophy of science) and all 26 commissioners of the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature (Ceríaco et al., 2023).

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