Sure, the Taylor Swift millipede is the least of our problems - but what we call wildlife matters | Emma Beddington

The SpongeBob SquarePants fungus and Shakira wasp might sound funny, but there is a rising acceptance that eponyms in the natural world are a legacy of empire and oppressionUnsurprisingly, numerous species of animal (including a flightless weevil and a parasitic flatworm) are named after David Attenborough - but were you aware of the existence of a Shakira wasp (aleoides Shakira) and the Taylor Swift millipede (nannaria swiftae)?It's not just fauna. Spring on middle-aged-lady Instagram is a riot of people posting pics of their Gertrude Jekyll (a formidable horticulturist) roses and there are hundreds of others named for everyone from Judi Dench to Jimmy Greaves. We name the natural world for people we admire and want to honour, and always have; even asteroids, which makes me wonder if anything out there has named us. (The dismissive alien equivalent of "flightless weevils" perhaps?) Continue reading...