hodgsoni

Hodgsoni is a Latin-derived species epithet used in zoological nomenclature to honor the English naturalist Brian Houghton Hodgson. The form hodgsoni is the masculine genitive ending, and it appears in the scientific names of various species that Hodgson contributed to or was associated with, especially from the Indian subcontinent and the Himalayan region.

As a binomial component, hodgsoni does not designate a single species or a single group; rather, it is a recurring epithet that has been applied to multiple taxa across different animal groups. Examples include Phoenicurus hodgsoni, commonly known as Hodgson's redstart, a small passerine bird found in the Himalayas and surrounding areas; and Rana hodgsonii, known as Hodgson's frog, a frog species in the family Ranidae associated with parts of Asia. The use of hodgsoni in these names reflects historical acknowledgment of Hodgson’s contributions to natural history in that region.

Taxonomic notes emphasize that hodgsoni is a species epithet, not a genus or higher-level taxon. Epithets like hodgsoni are appended to genus names to form the full scientific name of a species and may be encountered in old or ongoing classifications, sometimes undergoing revision as taxonomic understanding advances. In broader usage, hodgsoni is one of several Hodgson-associated epithets that appear across vertebrates and invertebrates named in Hodgson’s honor.

See also: Hodgson (surname), list of taxa named after Hodgson.