Brown, small, blind
Hitler beetle keeps its controversial name
It is brown, only five millimeters in size and lives hidden in caves. Although even the vast majority of experts have never seen the beetle, Anophthalmus hitleri is causing a stir because of its name. Nevertheless, the animal will probably continue to be named after Adolf Hitler.
The beetle, which lives in caves in Slovenia, was discovered in the 1930s. The researcher Oscar Scheibel, an ardent supporter of the German Reich, named the insect after his idol. He is even said to have received a letter of thanks from Berlin.
So far, there have been no requests to change scientific names of animal species for ethical reasons - not even in the case of Anophthalmus hitleri, said taxonomist Daniel Whitmore, who is a member of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. This committee issues the rules for naming new animal species.
Decades-old names criticized for racism
Some names given decades ago are criticized today because they honour controversial people, use colonial place names or may be discriminatory or racist in the view of some scientists. The international commission estimates that several hundred thousand scientific names could be affected.
However, it rejects renaming for ethical reasons. "We understand, of course, that some names can cause discomfort or offense," says Whitmore. However, the priority is to have a universal and stable nomenclature so that there is no confusion. "It's not our job to judge whether names are offensive or ethically unacceptable, because that's a very subjective and personal matter."
No content-related specifications for the nomenclature
Every year, thousands of new animal species are described worldwide. The international rules for zoological nomenclature set out how this should be done. According to zoology professor Michael Ohl from the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, the nomenclature does not specify the content. Researchers are free to choose names as long as they are technically correct.
"These apply as soon as they are published and can then no longer be deleted. In a case like the Hitler beetle, renaming it wouldn't change much at all," says Ohl. The name would not disappear completely.
The reason: animals often have several scientific names, which is why they are all listed under the currently valid name in a kind of catalog. Anyone who wants to collect the Hitler beetle because of its name will continue to do so, says Ohl.
There is a long tradition of naming newly discovered animal species after people - to flatter a generous donor, to honor family or friends or to attract attention with the help of prominent namesakes, as Ohl writes in his book "The Art of Naming".
For example, a millipede species bears the name of pop star Taylor Swift, beetles are named after actor Leonardo DiCaprio and climate protection activist Greta Thunberg, and a moth species is named after former US President Donald Trump (see picture above).
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