Real Science => Sarcasm?

[christian thompson]

People have asked whether I was being sarcastic when I used the words REAL
science. For those of you who don't know me, permit me to say that I have
always clearly stated that nomenclature IS NOT SCIENCE. I will now go
further and state: Those of us who use Linnaean nomenclature without
applying Hennigian grouping and ranking criteria (synapomorphy, age of
origin), need to warn their users. They should add the following to their
classifications:

Phylogenetic Warning:
Comparing Linnaean Taxa above the species level may be injurious to your
Science. Always consult a Systematist first.

However, as with cigarettes I suspect those addicted to traditional
classifications will pay no attention to our warnings! Despite that, making,
for example, biodiversity assessments based on the number of families or
genera or whatever, isn't sound Science. The only really valid comparisons
are those among sister-groups/clades (ala Mitter et alia). And Brent Mishler
may also be right about the species level too, as clearly species concepts
across the full span of life, from microbes to humans, are not comparable
either.

So, in short, one of the positive aspects of the PhyloCode is that it
attempts to incorporate REAL science into its nomenclature. And that should
force the others to admit that Linnaean nomenclature is an information
retrieval system based on unique keys (names), but beyond that beware of
what you attempt to derive from it.

So to repeat my original warning:

We should not be framing this issue as another paradigm war in which
Linnaean nomenclature is going to be massacred* and the Phylocode is going
to be triumphant. I fought in the evolutionary/Phenetic/Cladistic paradigm
wars of the 1960s-70s. As a community we all lost. So, today we need to work
together, recognizing our strengths. Linnaean nomenclature is the foundation
of a universal information system for biology. It has changed since Linnaeus
to adapt to Darwinian** view of the World and will change more, but it is
only an information system. Cladistic information is critical for our
Science. The PhyloCode is attempt at improving how we communicate that
information now (which is cladograms with Linnaean names). I believe it is
too soon*** to decide even if the PhyloCode is best way to communicate
cladistic information, let alone be deciding whether it should REPLACE our
current information system. However, there is already a positive aspect. It
focuses attention on Linnaeus' original idea of SEPARATING SCIENCE
(taxonomy, diagnoses, etc.) from Nomenclature, words acting as unique
information keys for effective communication. How much Science should be
built into our  nomenclature? And how?**** Let's address those questions,
rather than throwing our lives down in "Linnaeus's Last Stand."

* for the non-Americans reading taxacom, Pennisi' title, "Linnaeus's last
stand," was a take-off on "Custer's last stand," a reference to a battle in
the Dakotas in 1876 where American Indians slaughtered a troop of American
soliders. And what she was really trying to say with that allusion I won't
even try to quess.

** Also, don't try to label us as "creationists" because we use "Linnaean
nomenclature." "Linnaean" is used out of respect and because of priority,
not because the system has remained unchanged, etc.

*** Remember it was almost 100 years after the 10th edition of Systema
Naturae that the Zoologists finally wrote our first Code (Strickland Code,
1842).

**** I will conclude by answering my own questions. The more Science that
is built into informational system, the more instability there will be as
Science changes. New characters, intepretations, taxa, etc., will be
discovered, etc.  So, let's let the ornithologists and the others who work
on well-known groups worry about the PhyloCode, and we entomologists can
names new species. No need to throw stones at each others (except for fun
:-))


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