Nomenclatural instability and society

[JOSEPH E. LAFERRIERE]

I agree with Fred Schueler's comments yesterday that proposing
a new name for a taxon should not affect legality under
drug laws or endangered species treaties or similar
legislation. Ths very statement "The name of this species
has been changed" is a patently false statement. Nomenclature
does not work like that. One can propose a new name and
suggest "I think we should use this new name instead of
the old one." But the old name still exists and still
refers to the same species it did before you created the
new name. Other scientists are free to ignore your
suggestion if they want.

--
Dr. Joseph E. Laferriere
who believes very strongly that one should
not have opinions.