this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2023
102 points (89.2% liked)
science
14350 readers
163 users here now
just science related topics. please contribute
note: clickbait sources/headlines aren't liked generally. I've posted crap sources and later deleted or edit to improve after complaints. whoops, sry
Rule 1) Be kind.
lemmy.world rules: https://mastodon.world/about
I don't screen everything, lrn2scroll
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I believe they're trying to change any bird that's named after a person, and any European-centric name that replaced an existing indigenous name.
But, that's a weird tactic. I mean, the rock dove/common pigeon is native to Spain, Senegal and Sri Lanka. What is going to be it's indigenous name?
Another example: Heerman's Gull is native to the westcoast of north america, from Vancouver to Guadalajara. Obviously none of the natives called it Heerman's Gull, since the guy wasn't born till the early 19th century. I wouldn't be surprised if it has two dozen "indigenous names" before leaving the US, so what are we going to pick?
All we need to do is to add to this comic another guy over on the riverbank who says anyone who doesn't agree with his new river chart is racist.
I mean, I'm still using Turkey, and my parents still occasionally refer to Former Yugoslavia and they called Zaire by it's old name (Congo) long enough that they are now once again correct. On the other hand, I'm pretty nobody here has ever called Heerman's Gull anything but "seagull", so I doubt anyone will notice this.