[Taxacom] FW: formation of zoological names with Mc, Mac, et

[Francisco Welter-Schultes]

Dan,

> So is the take home
> message that taxonomists should probably start thinking about
> modifying current rules to accommodate the problems coming from the
> unification of all taxonomies?
They should be aware that they are providing a service for others who 
use the names they provide. And if the requirements for these names 
change, then modifying rules to get the names fitter for real use is 
certainly an option.

Homonymy across biological sciences (Tandonia) is a problem, probably 
without solution. In the Codes could be added rules that from now 
on it shall not be allowed any more to produce more such homonyms.

In the case of spellings of authors, and incongruent uses of 
initials, rules in the ICZN Code could help contributing to a 
reduction of costs provoked by manual fixing of problems arising 
from variant spellings, particularly of authors. A clearly ruled 
spelling of authors in taxa names would certainly be helpful for many 
situations. Rules were established concerning the exact spelling of 
genus and species, and the exact year, so author should also be 
possible.

Tandonia are slugs, not snails, by the way...

Francisco
University of Goettingen, Germany
www.animalbase.org