Colonial legacies in eponymous species names: a global network perspective

Eponymous etymologies (i.e., organisms named after people) are prevalent in global taxonomy worldwide, across scientific and common names. The persistent usage of eponyms has been intensely debated in recent times, across various sociopolitical, applied and philosophical perspectives. However, a rigorous statistical analysis of eponyms and their enduring colonial legacies remains hitherto unexplored. Here, we use a global and spatially-explicit network analysis to examine 2416 contemporary bird eponyms (21% of all bird species on earth) and their relationships with historical European colonialism. Additionally, we develop and utilise a Colonial Exposure Index (CEI) that summarizes the geopolitical influence of various colonial empires on modern-day countries. Our results show that an overwhelming majority of bird eponyms worldwide are named after people belonging to countries where the bird species does not occur. A majority of these eponyms honor scientists, aristocrats and army officers from erstwhile colonial empires, with eponymous species descriptions peaking during colonial expansion. Importantly, our analysis highlights a positive relationship between the Colonial Exposure Index (a metric factoring the duration and area of a country colonized by a specific empire) and the number of eponymous bird species honoring persons from that specific empire. Our temporal analysis, however, shows that the use of eponyms has recently shifted towards honoring native persons and distinguished conservation champions. Overall, this study presents an important statistical examination of eponyms and their colonial legacies, thereby providing valuable context for ongoing debates on the reform or retention of eponyms worldwide.