Islandoftiki
New member
Ok, so this is something I'm curious about, and haven't found any really good answers to. I suspect Dr. Caldwell could shed some light on if nobody else knows.
Binomial Nomenclature, AKA: The scientific naming system. What does it mean?
What does Gonodactylus mean? Obviously dactyl is in there, so it has something to do with raptorial appendages. What's the Gono part? What is the difference between Gonodactylus and Gonodactylaceus?
What's a Smithii? Someone's name? I see it in reference to other creatures unrelated to mantis shrimp. Example: Conocybe smithii is a mushroom.
I'd like to be able to dissect the names and understand why they were named that.
A few of them I get. Viridis... Green.
Caldwelli, I don't think anyone has any questions about the origins of that.
It all seems a bit arbitrary. Do these names actually tell us something?
In the immortal words of Richard Feynman, "You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."
Binomial Nomenclature, AKA: The scientific naming system. What does it mean?
What does Gonodactylus mean? Obviously dactyl is in there, so it has something to do with raptorial appendages. What's the Gono part? What is the difference between Gonodactylus and Gonodactylaceus?
What's a Smithii? Someone's name? I see it in reference to other creatures unrelated to mantis shrimp. Example: Conocybe smithii is a mushroom.
I'd like to be able to dissect the names and understand why they were named that.
A few of them I get. Viridis... Green.
Caldwelli, I don't think anyone has any questions about the origins of that.
It all seems a bit arbitrary. Do these names actually tell us something?
In the immortal words of Richard Feynman, "You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something."
