Taxonomic punchlines: metadata in biology

Biological nomenclature contains metadata that can inform researchers about a taxon’s place in nature and the namer’s place in contemporary science and culture. The socio-scientific content of that metadata, and the story it conveys about the origin of a scientific name, hold value for taxonomy and interest for the public in general. However, such metadata are perishable if not hard-coded into literature. Accordingly, the present paper attempts to document the use and value of socio-scientific metadata through examples of whimsical taxonomic names. In the process, I capture hitherto unpublished views on this topic expressed by George Gaylord Simpson, the twentieth century's most distinguished vertebrate palaeontologist and a co-founder of the modern synthetic theory of evolution, along with personal perspectives of many of the eminent palaeozoologists and biologists of his time. The principal conclusion is that whimsical names will surely increase in their ubiquity in scientific literature, and this commends acknowledgement in the international zoological code to encourage the preservation of their origin stories. Credit: Cartoon from New Scientist, its masked arthropod grumbling about whimsical scientific nomenclature, originally appeared in McClellan (1982). The artist, David Austin (1935-2005), began his cartooning career in the 1970s, later becoming well-known for his political commentary in pocket cartoons featured in British dailies including Today, The Daily Telegraph, and The Guardian, and also Labour Weekly, The Spectator, Field and Mail. (Used with permission of Mr. Austin’s estate, courtesy of Janet Slee, 2018.)

生物命名法（Biological nomenclature）所蕴含的元数据（metadata），可为研究者揭示某一分类群（taxon）在自然中的定位，以及命名者在当代科学与文化中的处境。该元数据所承载的社会科学内涵，及其传递的科学名称起源故事，不仅对分类学（taxonomy）具有重要学术价值，也能引发普通公众的广泛兴趣。然而，此类元数据若未固化于文献之中，极易灭失。有鉴于此，本文尝试以各类诙谐类群命名的实例，梳理这类兼具社会与科学属性的元数据的应用场景与价值。在此过程中，本文收录了二十世纪最杰出的脊椎动物古生物学家、现代综合进化论（modern synthetic theory of evolution）共同奠基人乔治·盖洛德·辛普森（George Gaylord Simpson）关于该主题的迄今未公开观点，以及同时代多位杰出古动物学家与生物学家的个人见解。本文核心结论为：诙谐类群名称在科学文献中的普及度必将持续提升，因此应在《国际动物命名法规》（International Zoological Code）中对这类名称予以认可，以推动其起源故事的留存。
图片来源：《新科学家》（New Scientist）刊载的漫画，画面中戴面具的节肢动物正在吐槽诙谐类科学命名，该漫画最初发表于McClellan（1982）。
该漫画作者戴维·奥斯汀（David Austin，1935-2005）于20世纪70年代开启漫画创作生涯，其后因在英国多家报刊发表单格政治评论漫画而声名鹊起，这些报刊包括《今日报》（Today）、《每日电讯报》（The Daily Telegraph）、《卫报》（The Guardian），以及《劳工周报》（Labour Weekly）、《旁观者》（The Spectator）、《田野报》（Field）与《邮报》（Mail）。（经奥斯汀先生遗产继承人许可使用，由珍妮特·斯利（Janet Slee）提供，2018年）