[Taxacom] ZooBank website

[Frank Krell]

Dear Colleagues,

the launch of ZooBank was kept relatively quiet because this is just not yet what we really want. Thomson's ION database holds a wealth of information, particularly when the back volumes of Zool. Rec. are added, but it is not at all authoritative. At the moment, ZooBank is not more reliable than all the other name databases relying on secondary sources. However, it is a start. When ZooBank starts working as a register, ZooBank will transform into the only authoritative zoo-nomenclatural database.
In the meantime, it is always possible to inform Zoological Record about obvious mistakes to get the data corrected. So I was told, but this works not perfectly. I informed Zool.Rec. months ago that all scarabs of the genus Gnorimus were classified as mites (because of a homonymy). Now they are classified as mites AND scarabs. The same with poor flatworm Trigonostomum which comes out as beetle AND worm (and this is indeed an overlooked homonymy leading to a Case we are currently preparing). It is a useful tool to trace overlooked homonymies (or established equivocal authorships), but it is not really satisfying. We might still ask Zool. Rec. to correct those mistakes: nigel.robinson at thomson.com
(Nigel, if you want to have another member of your team dealing with this, send an email to Taxacom or to me to forward it)

Cheers

Frank

Dr Frank-T. Krell
Head, Coleoptera Division
Editor, Systematic Entomology
Commissioner, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature
Department of Entomology
The Natural History Museum
Cromwell Road
London SW7 5BD, U.K.
Tel. +44 (0) 20 7942 5886
Fax +44 (0) 20 7942 5229
f.krell at nhm.ac.uk
http://www.nhm.ac.uk//research-curation/staff-directory/entomology/cv-3566.html
http://myprofile.cos.com/ftkrell




-----Original Message-----
From:	taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu on behalf of Pape, Thomas
Sent:	Tue 05/09/2006 10:04
To:	TAXACOM
Cc:	
Subject:	[Taxacom] ZooBank website

I have the same experience and apparently there are errors in the database structure linking species names with author names.

It should be noted that the ZooBank prototype is based on Thomson Zoological's "Index of Organism Names" and thus essentially will display information from Zoological Record (until 1978).

A new version ZooBank will have an interface for voluntary submission of animal names, yet I think we are still very far from having "a complete, authoritative, record of all scientific names of animals" as envisioned on the ZooBank homepage. The key word here is peer review, which still has to be built into a submission system.

Thomas Pape
Natural History Museum of Denmark


-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Torbjørn Ekrem
Sent: 5. september 2006 09:42
To: Bob Mesibov
Cc: TAXACOM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] ZooBank website

I agree, great tool.
It seems, however, that several taxa of my favorite group (Diptera: 
Chironomidae) have incorrect authors and dates, and in some cases the authors names are even missing. Coincidence or children's disease? It would be interesting to hear if you have the same experience with other taxonomic groups.

Torbjørn

Dr. Torbjørn Ekrem
Museum of Natural History and Archaeology Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Tel: +47 73 59 78 12

Email: Torbjorn.Ekrem at vm.ntnu.no
Web: www.ntnu.no/~torbjoe



Bob Mesibov skrev:
> I may have missed a recent TAXACOM discussion on this topic, but the 
> new ZooBank website seems to be very nicely organised and easy to use:
>
> http://www.zoobank.org
>
> I road-tested it with a few taxon names and got quick and accurate answers. 
> Great tool!
> ---
> Dr Robert Mesibov
> Honorary Research Associate, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and 
> School of Zoology, University of Tasmania Home contact: PO Box 101, 
> Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
> (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
>
> Tasmanian Multipedes
> http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/zoology/multipedes/mulintro.html
> Spatial data basics for Tasmania
> http://www.utas.edu.au/spatial/locations/index.html
> ---
>
>
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> Taxacom mailing list
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