Should beetles be named after Adolf Hitler?

In 1934, a German paleontologist named a giant flying insect from the Carboniferous period Rochlingia hitleri , after Adolf Hitler, who had just taken power in Germany, and Hermann Röchling, an anti-semitic steel manufacturer and member of the Nazi Party. Three years later, an Austrian amateur entomologist named a brown, eyeless beetle from Slovenian caves Anophthalmus hitleri because he admired Hitler. In recent years, neo-Nazis have reportedly paid thousands for specimens, pushing the beetle toward extinction . Some researchers have argued for years that A. hitleri and other species names, including the many that honor racists and colonizers , are offensive and should be changed . A few societies have taken steps toward doing so . But not the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and its stance has ignited fierce debate. In January, the commission, which arbitrates on the correct use of scientific names of animals, announced in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society ( ZJLS ) that it will not consider changing animal names many researchers consider offensive. “If these names are not stable, you can create a massive confusion,” explains ICZN Commissioner Luis Ceríaco, a biologist at the University of Porto. But on 23 August, a series of editorials in the same journal pushed back, saying the dec...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research