[Taxacom] "genus organus"?

[Barry Oconnor]

Mike - The German acarologist Werner Hirschmann developed a form of  
taxonomy that he called "Gangsystematik," which stressed the use of  
morphological characteristics of all developmental stages of an  
organism in formulating a classification. In this system, he coined  
the term "Ganggattung" to describe "genera" that could be diagnosed  
based on features present throughout ontogeny, and "Stadiengattung"  
to describe those diagnosed only on the characteristics of one stage  
(typically the adult). His taxonomy used Linnaean nomenclature and  
the type concept, so his multitude of new names are mostly available  
according to the ICZN, although most are not in current use. His  
"Stadiengattungen" could be referred to "Ganggattungen" when their  
ontogenies were worked out. I think the use of the term "Gattung" in  
the German literature may be a confounding of its more general  
meaning of "kind" or "form" and its particular meaning of "genus" in  
nomenclature, much as "generic" in English may refer to both meanings  
of the word "genus".
	All the best! - Barry

On Nov 8, 2006, at 12:11 PM, Michael A. Ivie wrote:

> Dear taxacomers,
>
> A colleague in the paleo group here has asked me the meaning of "genus
> organus" in a nomenclature context, a term used in a 1988  
> description of
> fossil turtle eggs.  I don't have a clue, as I cannot find it in the
> ICZN.  The usage in the text is "A systematically not interpretable  
> form
> (/Testudinarum ovum/) is described, together with /Haininchelys  
> curiosa/
> n.g.n.sp. as a new *genus organus* for fossil eggs."  This is in the
> English abstract of a paper in German, the same sentence in German
> being: Neben einer nicht naeher definierbaren Form (Testudinarum ovum)
> wird Haininchelys curiosa n.g.s.p. als neue *Organgattung*
> beschrieben."  I cannot make any sense of the German term using my
> technical German dictionary either.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Mike
>

So many mites, so little time!

Barry M. OConnor				phone: 734-763-4354
Curator & Professor				fax: 734-763-4080
Museum of Zoology				e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
University of Michigan
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079