Andrew recently wrote:
Indeed it isn't really because there are lots of them left to be
discovered. But most of them are bacteria.
One of my university lecturers had a marsupial mouse named after him
in 1975 - Ningaui timealyii.
The mere fact that I know someone with a mammal named after him
should render you all speechless with awe and thus respectful.
Even though it is a very small beastie, way out there in the desert.
I remember when he mentioned it in a drunken conversation one night I
spluttered a bit and looked foolish.
http://ningaui.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilbara_Ningaui
The name Ningaui means 'little desert man' and Tim always delighted
in this because he is a rather short and ferocious creature himself.
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Working with insects, it's often not too hard to come up with
undiscovered species that must be named. I had ten for my thesis, so,
of course, my wife's middle name is now immortalized in entomology as
Diamesa colenae, for a small mosquito-like fly found in Wyoming.
"timealyii" and "colenae" are called patronymics. It can be fun,
however, to come up with something descriptive. My new species
included: Diamesa cheimatophila, "lover of winter." D. chiobates, "he
who walks on the snow." D. nivicavernicola, "snow cave dweller." No one
yet has been rendered speechless with awe and respect, but the midge I
mentioned a week or two ago finding on the Beartooth Plateau was
subsequently described as Trichotanypus hanseni.
Dean
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