I have to agree with Jane on this one. Maybe the rules of English usage say
that possessive is the correct form to use, but common sense says that
Xantus no more owns the birds named after him than I do. Same for Swainson,
Stellar, Heermann, Ross, et al. Makes more sense to me to recognize that
the name honors the namesake but doesn't imply possession, and drop the
apostrophe. Besides, it makes for one less keystroke when you're typing the
name...

Jane Hadley wrote:

>Must it be possessive? We have Engelmann Spruce and Douglas Fir. Why
>can't we have Xantus Hummingbird?
>
>Hal Opperman wrote:
>>
>> John Xntus (there should be an acute accent on the "a") is a person, and
>> the bird is named after him; therefore his name should be in proper form
>> for a possessive adjective; therefore "Xantus" without apostrophe is
>> unacceptable. Barbaric, in fact.
>>

Rob Saecker
Olympia