RCT (Rapid Change Taxonomy)...a fatal complaint
Whenever I hear about taxosnomical changes (whether scientific or common names), I keep saying, "These name changes will kill me!" ...so I decided to write a requiem to myself!
When I finally pass away
Ppeople will gather and talk,
One question they may all ask
Is, "She was like a rock.
'What happened to her?
A lady fond of life?
What was it that made her
Give up the daily strife?"
"Oh!" those in the know will say,
"She survived life's games.
But what finally did her in
Was the constant change of names.
"Scientific or common names...
They covered the entire range,
The only constant factor there
Was the rate of change.
"Whether if was animals or plants
Or butterflies and birds,
What she just could not accept
Was the constant change of words.
"Called X one day and Y the next!
She struggled to keep abreast.
Scientific or common names....
Change without pause or rest.
"The more she learnt about creatures,
The less, she found, she knew.
Each polysyllabic binomial
Replaced by something new.
"Ultimately her tired brain
Fizzed up and short-circuited.
The changes in taxonomy
Couldn't be handled in her head.
"Even in death, she's wondering
What will now be *her* name...
As scientific nomenclature demands
The name cannot be the same!"
Cheers, Deepa.