bernieri

Bernieri is a Latinized patronym used in biological nomenclature as a species epithet. It is not a taxon in itself, but the second part of many binomial names, applied to diverse organisms to honor individuals with the surname Bernier. The practice of using such patronyms spans botany, zoology, mycology, and microbiology, and the epithet appears in taxa described across centuries.

Etymology and spelling conventions: The form bernieri derives from the surname Bernier placed into the Latin genitive as a way to indicate “of Bernier.” Variants such as bernierii or other orthographies may occur, reflecting the language and conventions of the describing author or the historical period. In practice, the exact spelling is determined by the original taxonomic publication and is treated as part of the official scientific name.

Usage and scope: Because bernieri is a patronym, there are many unrelated species bearing the epithet in different genera. These lineages share no biological relationship through the epithet alone; each is described independently with its own genus assignment and authority. The epithet serves solely to acknowledge a person associated with the discovery, collection, or study of the organism, rather than to group taxa by shared characteristics.

See also: Bernier (surname), Patronym in taxonomy, Latinized species epithets.