Subgenus Dendrolasius ants are NOT Lasius ants IMO because "Lasius" means "fuzzy" and none of them are fuzzy at all. They are the "shiny fuzzy ants"... this includes Lasius fuliginosus and sister species. However a phylogeny that excluded these ants would also exclude Lasius brunneus... which seems intolerable.
Subgenus Dendrolasius ants are NOT Lasius ants IMO because "Lasius" means "fuzzy" and none of them are fuzzy at all
5 Comments
llewelly@sauropods.win · 1 pts · 43d
@futurebird alternatively, "fuzzy" was a poorly chosen name because it is useless as a taxonomic character.
futurebird@sauropods.win · 1 pts · 43d
@llewelly
It's not totally useless. Just with that group. And thankfully they stand out in other ways and aren't that hard to ID to that level.
But also, this is why it kind of sucks that the rules for naming are so obsessed with making the very first name stick no matter how goofy or wrong.
llewelly@sauropods.win · 1 pts · 43d
@futurebird Therizinosaurus cheloniformis got its species name on hypothesis that it was a turtule-like reptile. It is not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therizinosaurus#History_of_discovery
futurebird@sauropods.win · 1 pts · 43d
@llewelly
I would rename them whatever is latin for "cute fat little ants with heads and butts in similar proportions"
Cephalarumpus maybe.
vanderZwan@vis.social · 1 pts · 43d
@futurebird @llewelly "Cephalarumpus" is a name that deserves its own nursery rhyme and at least three children's books