Latin names versus scientific names [was: So much for nomenclatural stability]

[Richard Pyle]

> I would agree with these statements with one exception.  I am
> increasingly convinced that we are NOT a dying breed

I don't think "dying" necessarily means we & our ilk are doomed to
extinction.  Certanly there *seems* to be fewer and fewer young taxonomists
who maintain a broader view of the role of taxonomic nomenclature as a tool
for communication amongst biologists. If the population is truly
attenuating, it is a form of dying. But, if your optimisim (which I share,
to some extent) is warranted, then we may yet persevere.  Many great
populations have endured bottlenecks, and so may we.

>      So instead of a dying breed, I think we will be a healthy
> part of a new hybrid (highly cladistic, but certainly not
> strictly cladistic).

Hmmm...so hybridization & introgression really is the enemy of strict
cladistics -- at more than one level! :-)

Aloha,
Rich

P.S. Thanks to Thomas Lammers, who captured what I intended to say much more
effectively than I did...