[Taxacom] Article 16.2 of the ICZN

[Stephen Thorpe]

Just to be clear about something that may not be fully understood by some: currently, all bioinformatic databases, including ZooBank, contain names that are not available (due to non-compliance with the Code), but which are not flagged as such. This is a potential source of much confusion. I very much doubt if Code compliance could ever be verified by machine, and the manual approach will take a very long time indeed! There are both internal and external factors to be verified. The external factors include verification that the publication is indeed validly published according to the Code, which could involve tracking down and verifying hard copies of electronic publications, etc.

Stephen

________________________________________
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Richard Pyle [deepreef at bishopmuseum.org]
Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2009 11:11 a.m.
To: 'TAXACOM'
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Article 16.2 of the ICZN

Just to be clear on the role of ZooBank on this: there is a two-step
process. The first step is to enter the record in the database and assign an
LSID.  The second step is to validate its compliance with the Code.  The
first step is in operation, but the second step is still being defined
through various draft ZooBank Policies (the first of which was announced to
this list and others and opened for public commentary some time ago by Frank
Krell).

Aloha,
Rich

> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of
> Oconnor, Barry
> Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 11:55 AM
> To: Stephen Thorpe; Bob Mesibov
> Cc: TAXACOM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Article 16.2 of the ICZN
>
> I see the family name is registered in ZooBank and that the
> authors followed Phylocode protocols in defining their
> clade-based taxon. Perhaps when that code takes effect, all
> will be moot. One can then choose one's code. - Barry
>
> -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
> 1109 Geddes Ave
> Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079
>
>
>
>
> On 11/24/09 4:40 PM, "Stephen Thorpe" <s.thorpe at auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
>
> >The Code is voluntary
>
> That's an interesting assertion! Sure, nobody is pointing a
> gun at taxonomists heads and saying "follow the Code, or
> die!", but it is irresponsible of editors to accept
> manuscripts that clearly don't follow the Code. Besides,
> taxonomists naming new taxa generally want their names to be
> forever associated with the new name, but if I now go and
> publish a one line note citing a type species for
> Mahajangasuchidae, then it will be forever known as
> Mahajangasuchidae Thorpe! Also, not following the Code is
> going to make the bioinformaticians dream database a whole
> lot harder to create...
>
> Stephen
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Bob Mesibov [mesibov at southcom.com.au]
> Sent: Wednesday, 25 November 2009 10:36 a.m.
> To: Stephen Thorpe
> Cc: TAXACOM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Article 16.2 of the ICZN
>
> The Code is voluntary, and some taxonomists interpret that as
> 'relaxed'. There are so many instances of non-compliance that
> there is very little point in pursuing specific instances.
>
> In 2007 I pointed out that a paper published in a well-known
> systematics journal contained invalid lectotype designations
> (see ICZN article 74.7). One of the authors, a taxonomist,
> wrote to me as follows:
>
> 'Yes, you are correct, we did not follow 74.7.3 (nor did the
> journal care). I expect more work will be done on the group
> and such technicalities can be dealt with.'
>
> If you wanted to be unkind about the situation, you could say
> that there are two sorts of taxonomists: those who do things
> properly, and those who don't and expect the other sort to
> fix up the resulting mess. Such is life.
> --
> 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
> Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/mesibov.html
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