GenBank & Taxonomical Nomenclature/identification

[christian thompson]

On Thu, 27 Jul 2000, Doug Yanega wrote:

> Apparently, after depositing a sequence in GenBank's archives, you
CANNOT
> change its species designation, even if it is later discovered (by
> reference to voucher material, taxonomic revision, etc.) to be
erroneous.

then on Thu, 27 Jul 2000, Peter Rauch wrote:

>How about "add a new designation to the record", with
>date/authority/etc, so that the history of designations is
>retained with the record (with the sequence)?

Peter is right, the best procedure is to build a permanent record of all
names and identifications that were used or are being used for a sequence,
etc. In taxonomy we call these synonymies, etc. and the procedure dates back
to Linnaeus and before.

BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW exactly what the GenBank policy is?  Is Doug really
correct in his statement?



F. Christian Thompson
Systematic Entomology Lab., ARS, USDA
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D. C. 20560-0169
(202) 382-1800 voice
(202) 786-9422 FAX
cthompso at sel.barc.usda.gov
visit our Diptera site at www.diptera.org