Biology subjects

Heard, S. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Heard, S. B..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

The power of naming: shorter and simpler species names draw more attention

If youve ever complained about a species name thats a mouthful--say, the soldier fly Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyioides or the myxobacterium Myxococcus llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis--youre in very good company. But could the readability of binomial scientific names cause more than complaints? Could it influence how much species are studied and talked about? We examined a random sample of 3,019 species names spanning 29 phyla/divisions. We tested whether name length and reading difficulty are associated with species representation in the scientific literature (measured via literature mentions) and their visibility to the public (measured via Wikipedia pageviews). Both species name traits showed significant negative relationships with literature mentions and Wikipedia reads. Increasing name length from 10 to 30 characters is associated with a 66% decrease in expected mentions and a 65% decrease in Wikipedia reads, while shifting from the most to the least readable name in the dataset corresponds to 53% and 76% decreases. These patterns are consistent with something familiar: the fickleness of human attention, responding to features of the world that are far from rational. While creativity in naming is a cherished part of taxonomy, a touch of orthographic restraint may ultimately benefit both science and the species themselves--especially among understudied uncharismatic taxa.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2023

Drivers of asymmetrical insect invasions between three world regions

The geographical exchange of non-native insects can be highly asymmetrical, with some world regions exporting or importing more species than others. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain such asymmetries, including differences in propagule pressure, environmental features in recipient regions, or biological traits of invaders. We tested aspects of these hypotheses in the context of the exchange of non-native insects between North America, Europe, and Australasia. Europe was the dominant exporter of non-native insect species between the three regions, with most of this asymmetry arising prior to 1950. The European dominance could not be explained by differences in import value, source species pool sizes, or native plant richness in the recipient regions. We identified that the introduction of non-native plants, driven in part by European colonization, best explains the asymmetrical exchange of non-native insects between our focal regions.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

Does science drive species naming, or can species naming drive science? A perspective from plant-feeding arthropods

How do researchers choose their study species? Some choices are based on ecological or economic importance, some on ease of study, some on tradition - but could the name of a species influence researcher decisions? We asked whether phytophagous arthropod species named after their host plants were more likely to be assayed for host-associated genetic differentiation (or HAD; the evolution of cryptic, genetically isolated host specialists within an apparently more generalist lineage). We chose 30 arthropod species (from a Google Scholar search) for which a HAD hypothesis has been tested. We traced the etymologies of species names in the 30 corresponding genera, and asked whether HAD tests were more frequent among species whose etymologies were based on host-plant names (e.g., Eurosta solidaginis) vs. those with other etymologies (e.g., Eurosta cribata). Species with host-derived etymologies were more likely to feature in studies of HAD than those with other etymologies. We speculate that the etymology of a scientific name can draw a researchers attention to aspects of life-history and thus influence the direction of our scientific gaze.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2022

If this title is funny, will you cite me? Citation impacts of humour and other features of article titles in ecology and evolution

Titles of scientific papers pay a key role in their discovery, and "good" titles engage and recruit readers. A particularly interesting aspect of title construction is the use of humour, but little is known about whether funny titles boost or limit readership and citation of papers. We used a panel of volunteer scorers to assess title humour for 2,439 papers in ecology and evolution, and measured associations between humour scores and subsequent citation (both self-citation and citation by others). Papers with funnier titles were cited less often, but this appears to result from a confound with paper importance. Self-citation data suggest that authors give funnier titles to papers they consider less important. After correction for this confound, papers with funny titles have significantly higher citation rates, suggesting that humour recruits readers. We also examined associations between citation rates and several other features of titles. Inclusion of acronyms and taxonomic names was associated with lower citation rates, while assertive-statement phrasing and presence of colons, question marks, and political regions were associated with somewhat higher citation rates. Title length had no effect on citation. Our results suggest that scientists can use creativity with titles without having their work condemned to obscurity.

scientific communication and education↗

bioRxiv2022

Taxonomic practice, creativity, and fashion: What's in a spider name?

Theres a secret pleasure in naming new species. Besides traditional etymologies recalling the sampling locality, habitat, or morphology of the species, etymologies may be tributes to some meaningful person (for example, the species collector, the authors husband or wife, or a celebrity), pop culture references, and even exercises of enigmatography. The possibility of choosing witty or even playful names for new species departs from the otherwise impersonal and old-fashioned writing style thats common in taxonomic papers; but, how has the descriptors choice for specific etymologies changed over the 300+ years since the introduction of the Linnaean binomial system of nomenclature? Using an unprecedented dataset of 48,464 etymologies (all valid species and subspecies of spiders described between 1757 and May 2020), we tested the hypothesis that species names given by taxonomists are deeply influenced by their cultural background. In particular, we asked whether naming practices change through space (continent in which the species was found) or have changed through time (year of description). We observed spatial and temporal differences in the way taxonomists name new species. In absolute terms, etymologies referring to morphology were the most frequently used. In relative terms, however, references to morphology peaked in 1850-1900 and then began to decline, with a parallel increase in etymologies dedicated to people and geography. Currently, these are the most widely used, with [~]38% of all etymologies of spider species described in the last ten years referring to geography, [~]25% to people, and [~]25% to morphology. Interestingly, there has been a dramatic increase in etymologies referring to pop culture and other cultural aspects in the last two decades, especially in Europe and the Americas. While such fashionable names often carry little or no biological information regarding the species itself, they help give visibility to the science of taxonomy, a discipline currently facing a profound crisis within academia. Taxonomy is among the most unchanged disciplines across the last centuries in terms of background, tools, rules, and writing style; but our analysis suggests that taxonomists remain deeply influenced by their living time and space.

scientific communication and education↗