Re: paleonet Palaeontology versus Geography versus Cultural Respect Versus Politics

[Ben Waggoner <benw@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ben Waggoner wrote:

<snip>

> If I were to describe a fossil as coming from "Euskadi", probably
> few people would know what I was talking about. Even if I wrote
> "Basque Country", that's not precise, nor is it always locatable
> on standard maps. 

Slight correction here -- I just spoke with a grad student 
from Spain, and "Basque Country" is in fact an official
Autonomous Community (Comunidad Autónoma) analogous to a 
state of the USA in some ways. So is Catalonia. Both would
be acceptable in formal publication, as far as I'm concerned.
But my general point still holds; it's our job to be clear,
and sticking with official place names is the best way to
do that. -- Ben W.