I just checked my copy of the AFS publication.
Under the section "AFS Principles Governing the
Selection of Common Names", item #5, "Common
names shall not be capitalized in text use except
for those elements that are proper names (e.g.
channeled whelk but San Diego doris)."
A foot note states: "The Committee, CCSNAI, and
their respective scientific organizations, CSM,
AMU, and AFS, voted not to capitalize common
names other than proper names. Other publishers
and individuals should follow their own inclination."
So there you have it. It's good to have a choice!
Rich
At 12:54 PM 11/11/2016, you wrote:
>So maybe this was an attempt at stylized
>venacular; e.g. incongruous semele, pallid
>marginella, Atlantic deer cowrie, e e cummings ... !
>
>At 08:35 AM 11/11/2016, you wrote:
>>On 11/11/2016 12:43 AM, worldwide wrote:
>>>Based on the outcome of conventions created for the AFS names project
>>>they ended up out of sync with the Associated Press Stylebook, the bible
>>>of news writers.
>>
>>* yes, this document is the bane of those who
>>recognize monophyletic taxa as proper nouns -
>>but it's not a document written by philosophers
>>of biology, which, you would think, should be
>>the group to decide whether a monophyletic
>>group is "an individual" with a name that's a proper noun.
>>
>>>For animal names such as the dog, the frog, or the thrush, the names are
>>>lower case. Specific animals names are to be Capitalized, e.g. Painted
>>>Frog or Ruby-Throated Thrush.
>>
>>* this is the idea that somehow higher taxa, no
>>matter how monophyletic, don't deserve the same
>>respect as species. I think this derives from
>>some writers/editors capitalizing species'
>>names just by copying their capitalization in
>>'official' lists of names, many of which are
>>more or less artificial, and at least
>>officially adjudicated by some committee such
>>as the AFS or AOU, while 'Bird' or 'Salamander'
>>are vernacular terms. With Molluscs we have few
>>vernacular terms above the generic level which
>>correspond to monophyletic groups (is "Tadpole
>>Snail" ever actually used for Physidae?), so
>>most names of higher taxa will be the
>>scientific names, which are pretty universally
>>capitalized when used as English.
>>
>>There's also the uncertainty about the
>>monophyly of some named groups, making the
>>capitalization in any document a record -
>>quelle horreur! - of the author's understanding
>>of the taxon's status at the time of writing,
>>an uncertainty which gives many editors the jitters.
>>
>>fred.
>>=======================================================
>>
>>>At 09:21 PM 11/10/2016, you wrote:
>>>>Dear Leslie,
>>>>
>>>>It certainly would be great if you could document all of this when
>>>>time permits.
>>>>
>>>>Intuition and admittedly enfeebled recollection lead me to believe the
>>>>use of lower case for the initial letters of vernacular names has a
>>>>more deep-seated origin/philosophy than mere simplicity of keyboard
>>>>operation.
>>>>
>>>>Harry
>>>>
>>>>PS: POV must mean point of view - and AFS American Fisheries Society. HGL
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>At 08:51 PM 11/10/2016, Leslie Crnkovic wrote:
>>>>>Hello Susan,
>>>>>
>>>>>To provide a historical perspective...
>>>>>Going back to the 1988 1st edition of the AFS Common and Scientific
>>>>>Names of Mollusca... Turgeon et al
>>>>>
>>>>>When working on a research paper some 12 to 14 years ago, I actually
>>>>>interviewed Turgeon on the matter.
>>>>>The reasoning at that time (consider the state of the PC and
>>>>>Typewriter of the late 80s), the POV of the AFS was that it was extra
>>>>>effort to make sure that each word was capitalized and to assure
>>>>>consistency they standardized all lower case. Note, they were doing
>>>>>Fish and Crustacea also.
>>>>>
>>>>>R. Tucker Abbott was deeply involved in the original debate, and
>>>>>ultimately lost the battle to capitalize these 'formal' names.
>>>>>Abbott wrote several articles on the topic (don’t have access to
>>>>>the references at the moment), in one article I remember was him
>>>>>referencing an article he wrote called "Non-Capps Poops" but it that
>>>>>appears to have never been published. Best guess is it was submitted
>>>>>to Astronaut Trail Shell Club.
>>>>>
>>>>>Hope that helps,
>>>>>
>>>>>Leslie Crnkovic
>>>>>San Jacinto College
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>>>From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
>>>>>Of Susan J. Hewitt
>>>>>Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 12:51 PM
>>>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>>>Subject: [CONCH-L] Common names and capital letters
>>>>>
>>>>>I am currently helping put together a marine field guide for a small
>>>>>Dutch Caribbean island. The guide will be in British English, and it
>>>>>will include fish and a whole range of invertebrate phyla as well as
>>>>>marine plants. The marine mollusks (spelled molluscs) are one
>>>>>chapter. For each species covered, the common name will be listed
>>>>>first, and then the scientific name.
>>>>>
>>>>>I see that "Names of marine mollusks" by Turgeon et al, 1998, stated
>>>>>that common names in text should be used without capital letters,
>>>>>except where a proper noun is part of the common name.
>>>>>
>>>>>However, that opinion seems to have changed. On the fisheries.org
>>>>>website,
>>>>>
>>>>>http://fisheries.org/docs/pub_style10.pdf
>>>>>
>>>>>The text states:
>>>>>
>>>>>"Most common names of fishes are now capitalized (see section 9.7 for
>>>>>further information)."
>>>>>
>>>>>Section 9.7 clearly states:
>>>>>
>>>>>"Following the usage in the 7th edition of Common and Scientific
>>>>>Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico (AFS
>>>>>Special Publication 34; 2013), new rules apply to the capitalization
>>>>>of species names.
>>>>>Capitalize the common names of all fish species, including those not
>>>>>in Common and Scientific Names and other AFS taxonomic publications."
>>>>>
>>>>>The field guide we are preparing must use a unified system for the
>>>>>common names of all phyla, so I am planning to recommend that in the
>>>>>text we capitalize both parts of the common name (or where applicable
>>>>>all three parts) for all of the phyla including mollusks. So it would
>>>>>read like this "The Chestnut Turban is a common species in this area."
>>>>>
>>>>>Any comments?
>>>>>
>>>>>Personally I find that capitalization makes the common name stand out
>>>>>more clearly from the surrounding words, so I am quite happy to do this.
>>>>>
>>>>>I will be grateful for any feedback.
>>>>>
>>>>>Susan J. Hewitt
>>>>
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>>--
>>------------------------------------------------------------
>> Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
>> Fragile Inheritance Natural History
>>Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
>>Vulnerable Watersheds - http://vulnerablewaters.blogspot.ca/
>>Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm
>>4 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
>> on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
>> (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
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