Tangents
Rostratula benghalensis or Greater Painted Snipe, Bangladesh. Photo: Ihtisham kabir
In 1758, the Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus introduced a naming system for living organisms. It was standardized by scientists worldwide, giving us scientific names for species, The Linnaean system arose from the need to uniquely identify each species and categorize or classify living beings into groups. The common name of a bird may change from country to country, but its Linnaean name remains the same. Thus, a Black-necked Stork in Bangladesh is a Jabiru in Australia but a Jabiru in Brazil is an entirely different bird. There is no confusion over their Linnaean names, however. The Black-necked Stork is Ephippyorhinchus asiatica whereas the (Brazilian) Jabiru is Jabiru mycteria – and that holds true everywhere.