An in-love fictional character once said,
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Unfortunately for some animals, a name can mean the difference between life and death.
Lafarge, a cement and concrete maker, has been converting a limestone hill in Malaysia into a quarry. All in a day's work: harvest some stone, make some concrete and wipe out an entire species.
Charopa lafargei is a newly discovered snail that lives only on that limestone hill being mined by Lafarge - and the similarity in names is not by chance. Taxonomists named the gastropod after the company that could cause its extinction, according to Scientific American.
Could this tactic help the critter facing danger? (According to Scientific American, Lafarge has said it will avoid certain areas of the hill). Researchers have found that an animal's common name influences the pull to protect it.
In 2012, George Mason University researchers created a study (starring fictional animal names) that tested how likely people would be to protect species with patriotic or cute monikers.
According to the study, 68 percent of people would be willing to conserve the Patriot Falcon versus the Killer Falcon. Sixty-six percent were willing to protect the Great American Wolf, while only 48 percent would have helped the Eastern Coywolf.
A later, unpublished study by Caitlyn Scott and Chris Parsons of George Mason University followed up the original study and found that while the American Otter was favored (68 percent) over the Hairy-Nosed Otter (41 percent), the Furry-Nosed Otter fared better than the Sharp-Clawed Otter (63 percent compared to 34 percent).
It seems a safe bet that if the aforementioned sweet smelling rose should find itself in danger, it should incorporate "The United States of..." somewhere in its new name.
