Renaming Burms

this might be controversial but it’s been something i have been thinking about for some time - having kept both P. sebae and P. bivittatus for a good time now i have been increasingly fascinated with the similarities between the 2 species when they’re from completely different places on the map - i have also seen an alternative common name for Burmese pythons such as “Asian rock python”

with the above being said, i would also say that, without getting to deep into it - Burma does not exist, Myanmar is what exists, and this nation changed its name from the former to the latter to erase vestiges of British colonialism following it’s independence - in addition to this in my research, most of the founder Burms, in the US anyway, seem to originate from places like Thailand and other places, not Myanmar

so with all of that - wouldn’t a switch to such a name as “Asian rock python” be preferable?

I'm no historian, but it seems that at independence the country took the name 'Burma'. After the coup in 1989 the military changed the name to 'Myanmar'. 'Myanmar' is just 'Burma' in the written form of the language that gets its own name ('Burmese') from the most populous ethnic group (the Bamar).

I think hobbyists should actually be using current scientific names, mostly for reasons of clarity, or at least hobby slang that derives from those names (Lampropeltis knoblochi = 'knob'; Python regius = 'royal', or even Eublepharis macularius = 'leopard gecko' since 'macularius' means 'spotted', like leopards) or possibly from formerly valid names (Chondropython = 'chondro', though 'green tree python' is OK for Morelia viridis since 'viridis' means 'green').

So Burms would be 'Two-striped python' according to this practice. There are probably some really silly ones that would follow this pattern, so maybe there would need to be exceptions. :)

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Originally Posted by Malum Argenteum

I'm no historian, but it seems that at independence the country took the name 'Burma'. After the coup in 1989 the military changed the name to 'Myanmar'. 'Myanmar' is just 'Burma' in the written form of the language that gets its own name ('Burmese') from the most populous ethnic group (the Bamar).

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etymologically there is controversy about the name - this is true - it’s my understanding that the name most used by the people of this nation is ‘Bama’ and the official name is ‘Myanmar’ - “Burma” was chosen post-independence however it was a continuation of the colonial spelling used by the British so fell out of favor for this reason but my point was just that all of this is a political debate that should be separate from science, zoology, herpetology, herpteculture, etc

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I think hobbyists should actually be using current scientific names, mostly for reasons of clarity, or at least hobby slang that derives from those names (Lampropeltis knoblochi = 'knob'; Python regius = 'royal', or even Eublepharis macularius = 'leopard gecko' since 'macularius' means 'spotted', like leopards) or possibly from formerly valid names (Chondropython = 'chondro', though 'green tree python' is OK for Morelia viridis since 'viridis' means 'green').

So Burms would be 'Two-striped python' according to this practice. There are probably some really silly ones that would follow this pattern, so maybe there would need to be exceptions. :)

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i just like “Asian rock python” ngl lmao

and! that connection between the 2 species - and i feel it’s usefully descriptive too since African rock pythons are not specific to one country like Ethiopia but multiple countries like Senegal, Ethiopia, Namibia, Somalia, etc

so too, Burms are not specific to Myanmar but Myanmar, Thailand, China, Cambodia, Laos, etc - so i feel it would make more sense for them to be “Asian rock pythons” as it’s referent to a general, regional body of nations