[Taxacom] Phylocode vs Linnean nomenclature, again.

[Anthony Gill]

The change of name for rainbow trout (from Salmo gairdnerii to
Oncorhynchus mykiss) happened a couple of decades ago. The community
(biologists and non-biologists) moved on fairly quickly without a
great deal of fuss. If anything, there was more fuss about common
names, namely what could now be marketed as "salmon". The whole
episode(or non-episode) made me suspicious about stability for
stability's sake. As for the Phylocode, the words "strawman" and
"propoganda" come to mind.

On Sat, Apr 16, 2011 at 6:45 AM, Neil Snow <neil.snow at bishopmuseum.org> wrote:
> James Prosek is a great artist -- his work is remarkable.  However, Prosek has known for a long time that "trout" (a vernacular name) reflects several genera of salmonoid fishes.  He is a Yale grad and they can celebrate that fact.  But apart from that, it is unclear what kind of meaningful contribution he could make to the relative (dis)merits of the PhyloCode.  The ideas behind the PhyloCode in my view are 100 years ahead of the (alpha taxonomic and phylogenetic) data to implement something akin to a PhyloCode. We cannot have 2 systems of nomenclature -- one for the (relatively?) well known groups and one for the rest -- the latter of which is most of life on earth.  I doubt those working on database standards and the flow of metadata across the internet are enthusiastic over the idea of a PhyloCode.... NS
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Karl Magnacca
> Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011 9:16 AM
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Phylocode vs Linnean nomenclature, again.
>
>> James Prosek, a naturalist, author and artist, realized while
>> working on a book called "Trout: An Illustrated History" that
>> traditional nomenclature for living things is increasingly unaligned
>> with scientific knowledge.
>> [...]
>> All three were called "trout" even though the brook trout was
>> genetically more akin to Arctic char, rainbow trout more akin to
>> Pacific salmon and brown trout to Atlantic salmon.
>>
>> "Technically, it was no longer correct even to call the book I was
>> working on 'Trout,'" Prosek said.
>
> I tried really, really, REALLY hard not to scream while reading
> this.  It didn't work.
>
> Karl
> =====================
> Karl Magnacca
> Postdoctoral Researcher
> University of Hawaii-Hilo
>
>
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-- 
Dr Anthony C. Gill
Natural History Curator
A12 Macleay Museum
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia.

E-mail:  anthony.c.gill at sydney.edu.au