What's in a name?

You may have noticed we all have several names. Paldo might be called an ʻakohekohe, a crested honeycreeper or Palmeria dolei. Why so many names? ʻAkohekohe is Paldo's name in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi or Hawaiian. This and crested honeycreeper are both Paldo's common names. Common names can be confusing because the same name may be used for different creatures. Or, like Paldo, the common names may be different in different languages or locations. That is why scientists have their own names for things, so that everyone knows what everyone else is talking about! Every species gets its own unique name using Binomial Nomenclature - or two names. The first name, Palmeria is the genus. The second name, dolei is the species. Names written in Binomial Nomenclature are written in italics.

Do you want to help scientists track and understand the natural world? Become a citizen scientist! Citizen science groups, like iNaturalist use scientific names when identifying findings but you can also use a common name when looking things up. You can find out where a species is, when it has been seen and who has seen it. You can also add your own observations. There are only so many scientists in the world and lots of things to study. By contributing to iNaturalist, you are gathering data that helps scientists better understand and protect nature.