Is there such an abbreviation??

[Richard Jensen]

On Fri, 29 Sep 2000, Michael Gerdes wrote:

> Dear Taxacomers,
>
> sp. denotes species.
> spp. is all inclusive (Past, Present, Future) species
>
> My question to you is...
>
> 1) Is there an abbrev. that denotes Present and Future with out the Past?
>

I don't know where the definitions may be formalized, but I am not aware
of anyone using spp. in the way you describe.  We have no information
about the future.  spp. refers to many or all extant species in the genus
while sp. is typically used in a situation where "I know that these
organisms are the same kind of, e.g., oak, but I don't know which species
of oak they are; thus, a community analysis indicating Quercus sp. is
referencing trees that all appear to be the same species.  On the other
hand, a community analysis referencing Quercus spp.  would indicate that
all oaks, regardless of species, were treated as a single group.


Richard J. Jensen      |   E-MAIL: rjensen at saintmarys.edu
Dept. of Biology       |   TELEPHONE: 219-284-4674
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