#  What’s in a name? Emmett Reid Dunn and the Oedipus salamanders 

 





April 17, 2014

 

 

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When scientists describe a new animal species, they give it a name, according to rules of the ICZN, the [International Code of Zoological Nomenclature](http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/). Species names can honor a person or the place where the animal lives, or reflect the personality of the describer, as in the case of the beetle *Gelae donut* (Miller and Wheeler 2004). Emmet Reid Dunn (1894-1956), who earned his PhD at Harvard under Thomas Barbour, expressed his sense of humor when naming salamanders. Dunn’s 1921 dissertation on the Plethodontidae was expanded and published in 1926 as *The Salamanders of the Family Plethodontidae*. Of the eight *Oedipus* salamanders that Dunn described there, two stand out: *Oedipus rex* and *Oedipus complex*.

Because names change as scientific knowledge advances, both of these names have been revised into ordinariness. In 1944, E.H. Taylor reassigned the species within the genus *Oedipus* to eight separate genera, including *Oedipina* (Keferstein 1868) and the new genus *Pseudoeurycea*.

Below are references for the type descriptions, the Taylor 1944 and the Encyclopedia of Life entries for both. The new names are more accurate, but not as clever!

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*Oedipus rex*, sp.nov. described by E.R. Dunn in 1921.

Common name, Royal False Brook Salamander.

E.R. Dunn, “Two new Central American salamanders”, Proceedings of the Biology Society of Washington vol. 34, pg. 143-146 (1921)

*[EOL record for *Pseudoeurycea rex*](http://eol.org/pages/1019116/overview)*:

Pseudoeurycea rex © 2006 Sean Michael Rovito Source: CalPhotos/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

E.H. Taylor, “The genera of Plethodont Salamanders in Mexico, Pt. 1.”, Univ. of Kansas Science Bulletin vol. 30, pg. 189-232 (1944).

*Oedipus complex*, sp.nov. described by E.R. Dunn in 1924.

Common name, Gamboa worm salamander.

E.R. Dunn, “New Amphibians from Panama”, Occasional Papers of the Boston Society of Natural History vol. 5, pg 93-95 (1924).

*[EOL record for *Oedipina complex*](http://eol.org/pages/2815206/overview)*

[](http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ernstmayrlibrary/2014/04/17/whats-in-a-name-emmett-reid-dunn-and-the-oedipus-salamanders/ocomplex/)Oedipina complex © STRI

 

 

 



 

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