Amid a wider social justice reckoning, some scientists are calling for scrapping species names that honor people considered objectionable, including dictators and enslavers, or use offensive words. Others question whether such a monumental effort is worthwhile or even possible.
Fascinating article. I’m not in favor of changing names attributed to those who discovered the organism, but anything named after another person is fair play. Obviously this is an overly simple hot take.
Aside: my late grandmother’s use of a certain colloquial term for Brazil Nuts kept going through my head. I’m glad to have not heard it since she passed.