Species have many names.

For example, most species have a common name, some species’ Aboriginal names are still known and used, and every described species has a scientific name too. 

When we were creating The Quoin’s website, and selecting dozens of species to feature, we had to decide what names to use in different contexts. We gave this question a lot of thought, and we wanted to take the opportunity to both explain our decision and share what we learnt in the process. 

Our style

We use a species’ common name by default on all main pages and landing pages. 

However, when we introduce a species for the first time in a page’s body copy:

• Where possible, we include the species’ name in palawa kani, Tasmanian Aboriginal language, in brackets; and
• We add the scientific name too, in both italics and brackets. 

For example: Tasmanian devil (purinina) (Sarcophilus harrisii). 

We also capitalise palawa kani place names, as advised by the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre. Our style is to reference the palawa kani name, followed by a slash, and the place's common name.

For example: Lutruwita/Tasmania and Tinamirakuna/the Macquarie River.

To learn more about the origins, applications and significance of common, palawa kani and scientific names, please read this guide to the end.

Common names

A common name is the colloquial name of a species in a particular culture or location.

A species gets a common name when it is of interest to the public or to researchers because of economic importance, conservation status, abundance, social significance, or other reasons. 

This means some species have many common names, especially if they reside in many habitats in many countries. The Puma concolor holds the Guinness Record for the mammal with the most common names, with 40 in English alone, including puma, catamount, cougar, painter and panther. 

It’s easy to see why having a common name for a species is advantageous — especially in the context of conservation (and pronunciation). 

However, giving a species a common name has resulted in misleading inaccuracies too.

Take the Thylacinus cynocephalus for example — commonly known as the Tasmanian tiger, but also called the marsupial wolf and Tasmanian wolf. This comparison to wolves and dogs is misleading. In reality, the Tasmanian tiger is a marsupial, much closer related to koalas and kangaroos on the mammalian family tree. Yes, it has a tiger-esque stripes on its back, but the similarities end there. The Tasmanian tiger isn’t a tiger. Nor is it endemic to lutruwita/Tasmania — that’s where European colonists saw it, but fossil remains have been found all over mainland Australia and as far as New Guinea.

palawa kani names

Before Lutruwita/Tasmania’s colonisation, there were between 8 and 16 local languages, but all of them were rendered extinct after invasion and the Black Wars. 

For the past 30 years, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre has worked deliberately and arduously to revive language. 

The result of this work is palawa kani, which means ‘Tasmanian Aborigines speak’. It is the Aboriginal language in Lutruwita/Tasmania today. You can learn more about palawa kani Aboriginal language here.

When creating The Quoin’s website, we sought the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s permission to use palawa kani species names where possible. This permission was granted on 6 February 2024.

Scientific names

Organisms that have been scientifically described have two names. The first is the genus name — it always begins with an uppercase letter. The second is the species name — it never has an uppercase letter.

Scientific names are written in italics; this system is called binomial nomenclature.

The second is the species name — it never has an uppercase letter. Scientific names are written in italics; this system is called binomial nomenclature.
For example: Wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax).
The genus and species names are usually derived from Latin or Greek but often include a person's name too.

Scientific names are important because they are unique and singular, allowing scientists, conservationists and people in general throughout the world to communicate unambiguously about species. For example, the Aquila audax is commonly known as the Wedge-tailed eagle, and the Isoodon obesulus is also called the Southern brown bandicoot.