The Name of It
A taxonomist has agreed to let you name five new specimens, on the condition that the names be defensible.
She judges on three things:
- meaning — does the name describe the specimen?
- precedent — are the roots real, in good standing, properly compounded?
- music — does it sound right when read aloud?
Two words. A genus and a species, in the Latin manner. The genus is capitalised; the species is not. Lumina vitrigenia. Vesperturdus bicantus. Roots may be Latin or Greek; she will tell you what she recognises and what she does not.
Five rounds. About fifteen minutes. The seed determines the order of specimens, so two people who share a seed see the same tray.