Bid to rename Homo sapiens called unwise

For about 250 years, our species has been known as Homo sapiens, a scientific name in Latin that means "wise man."

Given the havoc humans are wreaking on natural systems, putting ourselves and so many other living things in peril, we don't deserve this name, contends Julian Cribb, an Australian science writer and book author. In a letter published in the Aug. 18 issue of the journal Nature, Cribb makes a proposal.

"Changing our species name might risk infringing some of the hallowed rules of nomenclature, but it would send an important signal about our present collective behavior," he writes.

Cribb has no suggestion for a new name, "because I want humanity at large to discuss this issue — not just scientists," he said in an email to LiveScience.com.

Meanwhile, some scientists have a name for Cribb's suggestion. They call it silly.

"It's not a matter of changing names, it is a matter of changing actions," said Ken Caldeira, a climate scientist with the Carnegie Institution of Washington.

Cribb's brief proposal cites a study published in Nature in 2009 that suggests humans must avoid crossing "planetary boundaries" — thresholds set within arenas such as climate change, biodiversity loss and chemical pollution — to avoid catastrophic consequences. The authors of the study suggested that of the 10 systems represented, humans had already gone too far in three.