Barrow's goldeneye is a species of duck from the New World, but the authors who described it as a new species lived in Europe. Many European museums would collect animals from all parts of the world and preserve them for future study. John Latham, an English naturalist, described many new species, including this one, that he found in European museums in his 3 volume book, "A General Synopsis of Birds" written in 1781-1785. Unfortunately for him, his publication did not include scientific names for many new species. Then in 1788-1789, Johann Gmelin, another European scientist, published the 13th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae and he gave Latin names to the new species in Latham's book that did not have any scientific names. By the time Latham published his own book of scientific names in 1790, it was too late, because Gmelin's earlier publication has priority. Gmelin therefore is credited with naming Barrow's goldeneye scientifically even though Latham was the scientist who discovered it as a new species. Neither of them went to North America to see the birds in their natural habitats. In fact, many species were discovered by scientists who go looking in the collections of museums and many new species continue to be discovered the same way. The collector of the animals are often not scientists and they have no way of determining whether what they collected is a new species or not, and even if they do know it is a new species, they often lack the expertise to describe a species as new and to publish their findings.
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Barrow's goldeneye is a species of duck from the New World, but the authors who described it as a new species lived in Europe. Many European museums would collect animals from all parts of the world and preserve them for future study. John Latham, an English naturalist, described many new species, including this one, that he found in European museums in his 3 volume book, "A General Synopsis of Birds" written in 1781-1785. Unfortunately for him, his publication did not include scientific names for many new species. Then in 1788-1789, Johann Gmelin, another European scientist, published the 13th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae and he gave Latin names to the new species in Latham's book that did not have any scientific names. By the time Latham published his own book of scientific names in 1790, it was too late, because Gmelin's earlier publication has priority. Gmelin therefore is credited with naming Barrow's goldeneye scientifically even though Latham was the scientist who discovered it as a new species. Neither of them went to North America to see the birds in their natural habitats. In fact, many species were discovered by scientists who go looking in the collections of museums and many new species continue to be discovered the same way. The collector of the animals are often not scientists and they have no way of determining whether what they collected is a new species or not, and even if they do know it is a new species, they often lack the expertise to describe a species as new and to publish their findings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrow%27s_goldeneye