[Taxacom] Dark taxa: GenBank in a post-taxonomic world

[Roderic Page]

So I guess the issue is what are the processes involved. If we assume:

1. a large set of taxa
2. a finite set of taxonomists who have identified a subset of those taxa
3. the rate of species description is lower than the rate at which "species"are added to GenBank
4. the order in which taxa are sequenced correlates with how well known they are (or how easy they are to identify)

then it seems reasonable to expect curves like the ones in the blog post. I take it your argument is we need not invoke a decline in the output of taxonomy, nor a cavalier attitude towards taxonomy by sequencing jockeys, it's just a consequence of these assumptions.

Regards

Rod

On 13 Apr 2011, at 17:42, Curtis Clark wrote:

> On 2011-04-13 07:54, Richard Zander wrote:
> I'm advancing a different candidate for sainthood than the one you are 
> arguing against, and I'm not necessarily disagreeing with either you or 
> Bob. What I'm suggesting is that Rod's analysis tells us nothing novel 
> or surprising; that the observed pattern is not the result of a change 
> in attitudes toward formal names, but rather the playing out of forces 
> already at work. The only "attitude" parameter that's necessary for my 
> hypothesis is that, in general, scientists would rather be recognized 
> than not.
> -- 
> --
> Curtis Clark
> Cal Poly Pomona
> 
> 
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---------------------------------------------------------
Roderic Page
Professor of Taxonomy
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