India, Nov. 2 -- The discovery of a rarity, the Golden-fronted leafbird (GFL), in the precincts of the Sukhna Lake on September 16, 2025, generated excitement with photographers racing to procure its beauteous image. And, when it comes to the GFL's scientific legacy, it resonates with intriguing 'twists to its beautiful tail'. The GFL's ornithological nomenclature or scientific (Linnean) designation --- Chloropsis aurifrons --- traces to the early 19th century. This scientific nomenclature system was established by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 to standardise naming across all languages. This was an era wherein a race was underway in Europe to claim the honour of originating a species' scientific name. The official history of the GFL's scientific nomenclature credits CJ Temminck and traces it to his 1829 publication, 'Nouveau recueil de planches coloriees Vol. IV'. He was the first director of the National Museum of Natural History in Leiden, the Netherlands. Temminck had assumed the specimen on which he based his scientific nomenclature --- then Phyllornis aurifrons for the GFL --- to be a Sumatran bird but his museum later corrected it to be a specimen originating from India as its characteristics were "precisely like Indian ones". But the honours stayed with Temminck as he had accurately described the GFL and took care to assign it a unique scientific name. Actually, the GFL is encountered in India and some south-east Asian nations but not in Sumatra! However, seven years before that, in 1822, the British naturalist, John Latham, had described and illustrated the same bird in his work, 'A General History of Birds (Vol. IV)', and lent it a common English name, the "Hurruwa bee-eater (of the Hindostanese)". But Latham did not get the credit for he had erred in not assigning a binomial (two-part) name as per Linnean nomenclature. That lacunae cost Latham dearly, as the UK-based, Steven Gregory, points out. Gregory was a contributor to the fourth edition of the 'Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Bird of the World' (2013-14) as well as an author and co-author of papers on ornithological nomenclature (the scientific naming of birds). Referring to Latham's Hurruwa bee-eater, Gregory clarified at the outset: "Vernacular names, such as English or any other modern language, do not form any part of zoological nomenclature." "It is well documented that Latham 'missed the bus (or boat)' on many occasions in his published works, not realising, until too late, that posterity would reward others for the naming of his new species, in not providing a scientific (Linnaean) name. Thus, many of his new species in 'A General Synopsis of Birds' (1781-'85) and its 'Supplement' (1787) were named by JF Gmelin in his 13th edition of the 'Systema Naturae' (1788-'89) and not in Latham's 'Index Ornithologicus' (1790). This lesson remained largely unlearned (or forgotten) in Latham's later work, 'A General History of Birds' (1821-'28)," Gregory told this writer. Today, Temminck is the reference point for the GFL's scientific nomenclature and Latham all but forgotten. Gregory suggests an enrichment to the bird's history: "A footnote in an account of the GFL covering these facts would not hurt, and should refer to EC Dickinson & others' note number 12 in their 'Systematic Notes on Asian Birds 37'." Lending perspective to the vexed issues of taxonomy and naming of birds, professor Gurpartap Singh told this writer:"In that era, it was common for different authors to place a species in differentgenera. So, the GFL has been described erroneously as a thrush, bee-eater and bulbul by different authors before a consensus emerged. There was a time when Bats were classified as birds but Linnaeus correctly placed them with mammals. Even till now, European and American taxonomists differ on species, and re-evaluations and revisions are a never-ending process. Had Latham assigned a scientific name, he would have been creditedwith thefirst scientific description of GFL even if the name given by him was replaced later."...