vanishing taxonomists, which??

[John Grehan]

 Society seems to be wanting to
>invest in knowing more about the 1% which is known (vertebrates), than the
>unknown.

Do the choices really reflect 'society'?

>And it seems the major preoccupation of vertebrate taxonomists is higher
>classification / relationships. The "are birds dinosaurs?" questions or the
>phylocode versus Linnaean nomenclature when the real threats to us come from
>the combinations of insects and microbes (Iike West Nile fever and newly
>introduced vectors like Aedes albopictus).

It seems that these sorts of questions are the kind that get you into
the pop journals such as Nature and Science, whereas documenting biodiversity
does not (not the real nuts and bolts work anyway). I heard about
one institution that eliminated positions associated with biodiversity
inventory and focused on getting new people to do the kinds of
theoretical research that would gain the institution the high profile
exposure. Fame (and fortune) is what counts.

John Grehan