Cape Teal and Blue-billed Teal

Out of curiosity, was Blue-billed Teal the name used on the sign?

@birdsandbats No, the signage says Hottentot Teal. My understanding is that many people are using Blue-billed Teal now because the other name is an offensive slur for an African tribe; IUCN uses Blue-billed Teal. The Latin is still Spatula hottentota though.

As a general note, I don't always label species in my lists or photos the way the zoo does; I often change the names to whatever IUCN or Wikipedia uses. It makes online searches easier without using Latin names.

@Coelacanth18 I think there is a movement to have the Latin name changed as well, though naturally that is a lot harder to get accepted than a change in English name.

~Thylo

@ThylacineAlive The latin name will never change, we still have Anophthalmus hitleri.

@birdsandbats Latin names can and have changed, though it requires someone to bring the issue up. As far as I can tell, no one's attempted to have A. hitleri amended since the 1940's/50's. I would imagine modern mindsets would allow such an exception to be made if anyone cared to make it. The Blue-Billed Teal has a lot of attention on it atm, so shall see if the ICZN can be convinced. They've certainly allowed names to be changed for less problematic reasons.

~Thylo