Pandorapedia Taxonomy Errors

[Patrice Maire]

Hi there all, haven't been on here in a while but something just struck me and I needed to get it out.

I am knowledgeable in plant names and some animal names, been in the retail nursery industry for 14 years. So... seeing all the research and new plants that were invented for Pandora was exciting until....
I was reading the Survival guide the other night and some of the names didn't seem to ring true to the 'translation' they used from the Latin to English.
The Na'vi obviously was well researched but the 'actual' language.... hardly!

I would like to have anyone else familiar with taxonomy and name roots to help out with this and send a message to Cameron's crew that there are some people who do care about accuracy on something like this.

Let's start with the humble but important 'Glow Worm' or 'Brain worm'....
The scientific name for it in the Survival Guide as well as the Pandorapedia (since they got the information from the book)is
Arachnolumera nitidae, which in their translation means 'shining glow worm'. WRONG!

First, arachno is 'spider' or 'spider like', there is no taxonomical source for 'lumera, and 'nitidae' may be the only correctly placed word.

To correctly interpret 'shining glow worm' (and if anyone knows taxonomical rules better feel free to correct)

Shining = lucidus or nitidus (and by way of it being a description lucidae or nitidae.

Glow = nitor or possibly sublucea (small light)

Worm = vermis

Soooo, to put it in correct taxonomy we will say that it is a 'shining Glow Worm'. Because if you class 'glow worm' as a Genus and then specify that it is the 'shining glow worm' then it would have that species name on the end, so 'Glow worm' as a Genus would be:

Vermis sublucea, and then to describe that particular one because it is purple would be Vermis sublucea purpurea. (and since we deal in both latin and Greek taxonomy it's up for debate.)

Vermis sublucea purpurea would be 'Purple glow worm'.

IF you wanted to use 'shining' instead then it would be

Vermis sublucea nitidae. - 'Shining Glow Worm'

Harumph...

Again if anyone has better knowledge of animal classification then feel free to correct. Don't even get me started on the plant names....
that was the most glaring mistake that I found...more to come I'm sure.


I think what they were using was the root for the Earth firefly larva which when classifying new species it would have to be related in some way. Since this is a completely new species and not even on the same planet, using the same root family name as an earth insect is incorrect.
Arachnocampa is one species of firefly on earth and are all insects not true worms. Since it has not been shown that the Pandoran Glow Worm is a larval stage of a beetle or fly it is then to be classified as a type of true worm.