New species of animal and plant are being discovered all the time. When this happens, the new species has to be given a scientific, Latin name in addition to any common, vernacular name. In either case the species may be named after a person, often the discoverer but sometimes an individual they wished to honour or perhaps were staying with at the time the discovery was made. Species names related to a person are eponyms . Many scientific names are allusive, esoteric and even humorous, so an eponym dictionary is a valuable resource for anyone, amateur or professional, who wants to decipher...
New species of animal and plant are being discovered all the time. When this happens, the new species has to be given a scientific, Latin name in addi...
Who was Richard Kemp, after whom the Kemp's ridley sea turtle is named? Is Wake's Gecko named after Berkeley's Marvalee Wake? Or perhaps her husband, David? Why do so many snakes and lizards have Werner in their name? This reference book answers these and thousands of other questions about the origins of the vernacular and scientific names of reptiles across the globe.
From Agkistrodon piscivorus conanti, the Florida cottonmouth subspecies named for Roger Conant, to Xantusia, the night lizard genera namesake of John Xantus, this dictionary covers everyone after whom an...
Who was Richard Kemp, after whom the Kemp's ridley sea turtle is named? Is Wake's Gecko named after Berkeley's Marvalee Wake? Or perhaps her husban...
