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Are there words that categorize latin specific epithets by how they're derived? Specifically, I was wondering if there exist adjectives to refer to:

Person-derived species names as in Nothura darwini (these could be "eponymic" or "eponymous" perhaps, but that seems grammatically wrong )

Place-derived species names as in Amolops hongkongensis (would these be "toponmyous", or maybe "loconymous"?)

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  • $\begingroup$ I think generally both could be called latinisations, as the practice with species names is to take the name and try to translate/modify it into an appropriate Latin genitive case. As far as a word the gets specific enough to reffer to eponymic latinisations, no I don't think there is one. I searched through the OED a few times but I don't think there is one. Do you have reason to coin the term? I would be excited if I was proven wrong. $\endgroup$
    – Atl LED
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 20:20
  • $\begingroup$ This isn't a purpose-driven query – just trying to write a sentence and looking for le bon mot. As an update, I did find a few thousand google hits for "eponymous taxa", but also some criticism of that phrase; and nothing similar for place-derived names. $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 12, 2013 at 0:13

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According to A Source-Book of Biological Names and Terms by Jaeger, the appropriate terms are the simple, obvious ones:

"Geographical" for place-derived names and

"Personal" for person-derived names.

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