Fwd: rankless nomenclature

[Philip Cantino]

Zdenek Skala wrote:

>I am sure that PhyloCode would serve very well to cladistic
>community. On the other hand, separate Codes could be useful to
>other communities, too.

Doesn't this already occur?  For example, the International Code of
Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants was created for a particular
community of users.


>Would not it be nice for geneticist or
>breeders to name organisms by their genotype and so relax the
>nested pattern of nomenclature? In that way, taxon "tortuosa"
>could be included in many higher-rank taxa since the genetic basis
>of tortuose (plant) growth would be identical. Such change fully
>reflects the natural pattern of genome structure and have both
>theoretical and practical advantages. Of course - it would promote
>further instability of nomenclature.

Perhaps I am misunderstanding, but this doesn't seem terribly
different from the current situation, where "tortuosa" might be used
as a form name within many different species.  Granted, its use
(currently) is based on phenotype rather than genotype, but I don't
see how it would have a more negative effect on nomenclatural
stability if it were based directly on genotype.


>Respectfully, I would like to raise the question if the advantages of
>having separate Code (against the existing ones) is really so
>indisputable. Can someone involved in the PhyloCode development
>summarize?

I certainly wouldn't claim that the advantages of having a separate
code for clade names are "indisputable," since this has been disputed
repeatedly in this discussion.  I personally believe that having such
a code would be very beneficial to phylogenetic systematists, for
reasons I have touched on in earlier messages and which are discussed
in more detail in the PhyloCode preface and the other readings I
suggested yesterday.  Rich Pyle has argued that having two separate
systems would also be advantageous for other taxonomists because the
availability of the PhyloCode would free rank-based nomenclature from
the pressure to conform strictly to phylogeny.  (He expressed it far
better, but this is the general idea.)  I really don't have any more
to add.

Phil



Philip D. Cantino
Professor and Chair
Department of Environmental and Plant Biology
Ohio University
Athens, OH 45701-2979
U.S.A.

Phone: (740) 593-1128; 593-1126
Fax: (740) 593-1130
e-mail: cantino at ohio.edu