[Taxacom] How many species have been reported only once

[Roderic Page]

Paddy, wouldn't a quick and dirty way to answer this be to use BHL to  
build a  frequency distribution of uBio names over BHL items? If info  
only in original description then name will typically occur in only  
one item. Might have to exclude some items (e.g. compations and  
indices), but it would give you a ball park figure.

Rod

Sent from my iPhone

On 19 Mar 2010, at 19:13, David Patterson <dpatterson at eol.org> wrote:

> I have heard suggestions that our understanding of 50% and 65% of  
> all species is limited to the information that was included in the  
> original description.  That is, for very many species, there have  
> not been any further publications that add new information. These  
> are the 'once only' species.  If the proportion is as high as this,  
> it bears upon the reliability and effectiveness of the discovery  
> process, how many species there are, and on asymmetry within our  
> discipline.
>
> Does anyone know of analyses that explore this matter, or have any  
> data to confirm the proportion of 'once only' species in their  
> sphere of expertise?
>
> Thanks
>
> David Patterson
>
> -- 
> David J Patterson
> Senior Taxonomist, EOL
> CoPI Life Sciences, Data Conservancy
>
> Biodiversity Informatics
> Marine Biological Laboratory
> Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
>
> (+) (1) 508 289 7260
> dpatterson at mbl.edu
>
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