Darwin’s Finch basically covered the synonymy – with this caveat: the official scientific name of an animal is assigned using rules devised by an international commission of zoologists (link to this in another active GQ thread), with the idea of fairness uppermost. And the principal rule, with caveats discussed in “Bully for Brontosaurus,” is this: The man who first describes the creature in the proper zoological/paleontological monograph form, giving the characteristics that distinguish it from other similar forms, is the man who has the right to name the critter. In the case of Brontosaurus, a description of a fragmentary Apatosaurus was published first – so that name stands, in the absence of an extraordinary ruling by the commission.
You can call it whatever you like, including “that bleeping big thing” if you so choose. But the official Linnaean nomenclature is the one first given it, which is Apatosaurus. But just as we usually say “grizzly bear” instead of Ursus horribilis, there’s no reason why the English vernacular term for Apatosaurus cannot be “Brontosaurus.”
Minor question for palaeo. geeks: What’s the status of Brontosaurus ajax? If it were discovered to be a separate genus from Apatosaurus, would it retain the right to use Brontosaurus, which it was first named as, or would that name remain with the type B. excelsis (=A. excelsis) specimen and a third name be required for ajax?
Details: “platypus” = Ornithorhynchus anatinus
In a reform of German orthography, words containing “-th-” (which is sounded as /t/) dropped the ‘h’ and this was done for the Neander Valley (t(h)al) where the type Neandertal specimen was found. However, again owing to the rule of priority in zoology and paleontology, the hominid named after that is either Homo neanderthalensis or H. sapiens neanderthalensis, depending on whether it’s a separate species or a subspecies of H. sapiens – in either case, the trivial or subspecific name retains the “th” because that is what it was originally named.
Styrofoam, by the way, is a trademarked trade name, I believe by Dow Chemical, for their foamed polystyrene product. Nobody has ever drunk out of a Styrofoam cup, because that company doesn’t make them. A polystyrene-foam cup, yes, but not a Styrofoam one.
