We just released a few updates surrounding taxon names that we hope will aid in transparency.
The Names table on each taxon page (go to the Taxonomy tab on the page and scroll down) now orders names by global priority within each Language / Type, whereas names were previously in alphabetical order for each Language / Type. For example, the German names for Lion are not shown in alphabetical order now:
Rather, “Löwe” is the German name with the highest priority and will be shown by default to users whose locale is German. So it’s shown first among the German names.
Below the Names table we now show a Regional Names table:
This table shows everyone which names have been added to places and, if there’s more than one name associated with a place, they’re sorted by priority. Previously this information was only available to curators but that made things confusing and definitely less transparent, so the information is now there for anyone to see. Only curators can actually edit name prioritization, however.
And finally, if you are adding a name, editing a name, or deleting a name, you must add at least a 10 character note here in order to save it:
Having a source is best, but even if you aren’t able to cite one you should at least be able to explain why you are adding, editing, or removing a name and be on the record when doing so. Hopefully this will help people a) think about why they’re adding/editing/deleting the name and b) make it clear to others (via the Taxon History) why the change was made.