[Taxacom] New lizard species

[Stephen Thorpe]

I still think that there is a lot of point missing going on here ...

it is not, and never was the job of the Code to prescribe good taxonomic practice, and if we start down that road, then how long until specification of molecular characters becomes a mandatory requirement for the availability of new names??

as things are, the Code must be taken literally, and if the intended meaning was different, then too bad for the Code...

The ICZN can do one or both of only two things:

(1) rewrite parts of the Code to make it clearer; and/or

(2) give OPINIONS on specific cases brought to its attention.

The ICZN cannot, without rewriting the Code, indicate that what is written actually means something other than what it literally says ...

Stephen




________________________________
From: Francisco Welter-Schultes <fwelter at gwdg.de>
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu; dipteryx at freeler.nl
Sent: Tue, 15 June, 2010 12:14:44 AM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] New lizard species

Giving some examples in the Code would certainly be useful. It would 
be helpful to copy 12.3 into Art. 13.6 (it makes no sense that the 
prescriptions of 12.3 should not be mandatory for names published 
after 1930 - one of the general trends in the Code is that for more 
recent descriptions the rules become more strictly tight). There are 
some more examples that would not fit the requirements of scientific 
descriptions, like for example the term "beautiful", which could also 
be mentioned under exclusions. 

Of course, a description that says "differs from the African elephant 
and thus must be a new species", which could invariably be used to 
describe any species besides the African elephant, would not be in 
the sense of the Code. This is implicit. But those who do not work 
with the Code every day and who might not reflect about these 
consequences, could be helped by adding examples that exclude 
definitely any theoretically possible interpretation in this 
direction.

Francisco
University of Goettingen, Germany
www.animalbase.org

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