You name it--memory and delay govern first name dynamics

The adoption and abandonment of first names through time is a fascinating phenomenon that may shed light on social dynamics and the forces that determine cultural taste in general. Here we show that baby name dynamics is governed almost solely by deterministic forces, even though the emerging abundance statistics resembles the one obtained from a pure drift model. Exogenous events are shown to affect the name dynamics very rarely, and most of the year-to-year fluctuations around the deterministic trend may be attributed solely to demographic noise. We suggest that the rise and fall of a name reflect an "infection" process with delay and memory. The symmetry between adoption and abandonment speed emerges from our model without further assumptions.     

Hintoniella,a replacement name for the preoccupied generic name Helonastes Hinton, 1968 (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea: Elmidae)

Abstract

A replacement name, Hintoniella is proposed for the generic name Helonastes Hinton, 1968 in the family Elmidae (Coleoptera: Byrrhoidea).     

One fungus, one name promotes progressive plant pathology

The robust and reliable identification of fungi underpins virtually every element of plant pathology, from disease diagnosis to studies of biology, management/control, quarantine and, even more recently, comparative genomics. Most plant diseases are caused by fungi, typically pleomorphic organisms, for which the taxonomy and, in particular, a dual nomenclature system have frustrated and confused practitioners of plant pathology. The emergence of DNA sequencing has revealed cryptic taxa and revolutionized our understanding of relationships in the fungi. The impacts on plant pathology at every level are already immense and will continue to grow rapidly as new DNA sequencing technologies continue to emerge. DNA sequence comparisons, used to resolve a dual nomenclature problem for the first time only 19 years ago, have made it possible to approach a natural classification for the fungi and to abandon the confusing dual nomenclature system. The journey to a one fungus, one name taxonomic reality has been long and arduous, but its time has come. This will inevitably have a positive impact on plant pathology, plant pathologists and future students of this hugely important discipline on which the world depends for food security and plant health in general. This contemporary review highlights the problems of a dual nomenclature, especially its impact on plant pathogenic fungi, and charts the road to a one fungus, one name system that is rapidly drawing near.     

Sinoalaria,a name to replace Alaria （Araneae,Theridiosomatidae）

Sinoalaria nom. nov.
= Alaria Zhao ＆ Li, 2012. ZooKeys 255： 7.
Type species. Alaria chengguanensis Zhao ＆ Li, 2012
Etymology. The generic epithet is a combination of Latin Sino （=China） and Latin alaria （=of wings）, referring to the distribution of the genus and the shape of projection of the copulatory ducts. Gender is feminine.     

卫矛科沟瓣属一新名称

印度支那植物志中有一个假卫矛属植物名称Microtropis poilanei。据其模式标本来看,该种显然不是假卫矛属Microtropis Wallich植物,而是沟瓣属Glyptopetalum Thwaites一新成员。由于种名Glyptope-talumpoilanei Tardieu已经合法发表,笔者根据其模式标本叶全缘的特点,提出新名称为全缘叶沟瓣Glypto-petalum integrifolium Q.W.Lin,Z.X.Zhang & Q.R.Liu。此外由于Microtro pispoilanei未合格发表,作者补充了新名称的拉丁描述。     

Immortality in a name

Have you ever wondered where flora and fauna found their names? Many are named for people--rich and poor, large and small. Even tabletop football is not immune.