sauvage noble

New species of slime-mold beetles of the genus Agathidium have been given species names after recent or present government officials, among other figures famous from elsewhere (Cornell University News Service, via blogdex):

• Agathidium bushi Miller and Wheeler
• Agathidium cheneyi Miller and Wheeler
• Agathidium rumsfeldi Miller and Wheeler
• Agathidium vaderi Miller and Wheeler

Honoris causa, of course. Now, the article says:

According to rules established by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, the first word of a new species is its genus; the second word must end in “i” if it’s named after a person; and the final part of the name includes the person or persons who first described the species. That’s why all the new slime-mold beetle species’ names end with [“]Miller and Wheeler[”].

Back in San Diego, 2001, at my scholarly (“squalorly”, quipped my undergraduate advisor) debut, on the same panel was a presentation on the Latinity of the scientific community (I forget the presenter’s name and the talk’s title; the abstract isn’t on line). He surveyed palaeontologists in particular on their knowledge of Latin and whether they cared about the correctness of their names from the linguistic/grammatical point of view. The very few who responded to the survey were reported (1) not to be knowledgeable in Latin as a group, (2) nor to care for correctness. Both owing to the more pressing demands of their discipline.

Nevertheless, preaching to the choir and falling on deaf ears: well, -i is right, but only for second-declension masculines and neuters in -us/um. What of -ius/ium? And what if the eponym were a woman or feminine inanimate? One of the honorands was Pocahontas. Pocahonti? Pocahontasi? Nay, nay, NAY! Surely rather pocahontae? What of the spelling rules? Latinized, Bi-U would be Bushius, but more Latinly Buscius, so the species name would be buscii. Cheney/ius: Ceneius, so ceneii. Rumsfeldius is OK, but hence rumsfeldii. Finally, Vaderius: vaderii. (Vaderiosio anyone? Cf. valesiosio = Valerii on the Lapis Satricanus.)

Yes, yes, -ii often contracted to -i. Still.