Abstract
As a cornerstone of biodiversity science, Linnaean taxonomy has been used for almost 300 years to catalogue and organize our knowledge of the living world. In this system, the names of species themselves take on additional functions, such as describing features of the organism or honoring individuals. Here, we analyze the connections between bird species descriptions and who they honor from 1950 to 2019 within a context of global structures of power and access to science to interrogate how authority over the natural world is designated through Western scientific naming practices. We find that 95% of bird species described during this period occur in the Global South, but these species are disproportionately described by and named in honor of individuals from the Global North. We also find an increase through time in authors from the Global South, but Global North authors continue to disproportionately hold first author positions. Our findings show how research and labor in the Global South continue to be disproportionately translated into power and authority in the Global North, upholding and re-enacting imperialistic structures of domination. Addressing these inequities as a scientific community will require reflection and collective dialogue on the social foundations and impacts of our science.
For working definitions of key terms, see Table 1. For a Spanish language version of the manuscript, see Supplement (para la versión en español, ver el Suplemento).
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Competing Interest Statement: Authors declare no competing interests.
