Polskie nazewnictwo ssaków świata (Polish names of mammals of the world)

Abstract

Cichocki, W., A. Wazna, J. Cichocki, E. Rajska-Jurgiel, A. Jasinski, and W. Bogdanowicz. 2015. Polskie nazewnictwo ssakow świata (Polish names of mammals of the world). Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, xiv + 362 pp. ISBN 978-83-88147-15-9, price (paper), 70 PLN. The main objective of this book is to provide Polish names for all currently recognized species of mammals, along with their Latin and English names and some information on their distribution and conservation status. There are 3 parts to the book: 1) a preface (pp. i–xiv), 2) a main part—the list of mammal names in systematic order (pp. 1–298), and 3) indexes of Polish and Latin names of mammal species in alphabetical order (pp. 299–362). Additionally, the inside cover has a short synopsis of the book and notes on the authors’ institutions and specializations (in both Polish and English), showing their academic background. The introductory preface has columns of parallel text in both Polish and English and is divided into 7 sections. A section titled Introduction gives a brief history of the creation of Polish names of mammals, draws attention to the problems resulting from the lack of such names for many species or flaws in existing names, and, thus, justifies the need to introduce new names provided by specialists. It also emphasizes that the authors relied mainly on Wilson and Reeder (2005) in creation of the species checklist. The section Proposed changes to Polish nomenclature of mammals explains why the authors decided to change many of the old Polish names—mainly to avoid ambiguity and mistakes or confusion present, for example, in the English names. Principles of assigning Polish names details the rules and justification for establishing new Polish names. These include: avoiding homonyms and single-word names; creating binomial names of species; creating names for higher taxa based on the names of typical genera; creating species names based on morphological, behavioral, or ecological features; and avoiding the use of eponyms (i.e., naming after people). A general … Department of Systematic Zoology, Institute of Environmental Biology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Umultowska 89, 61-614 Poznan, Poland; e-mail: lrychlik{at}amu.edu.pl.