[Taxacom] Why Taxonomy does NOT matter

[Stephen Thorpe]

we shouldn't lose sight here of the actual criticisms of barcoding: the 
criticism isn't that barcoding is good for nothing, nor that taxonomy should 
stay rooted in the past, but rather that taxonomy underpins barcoding and 
cladistics, etc., yet people seem to be losing interest in this foundation, and 
yet somehow seem to think that we should spend all our time and resources on 
barcoding, cladistics, or whatever else is flavour of the day, and make taxonomy 
itself into a dried up old museum specimen ...

Stephen




________________________________
From: Bob Mesibov <mesibov at southcom.com.au>
To: TAXACOM <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Thu, 21 April, 2011 12:52:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Why Taxonomy does NOT matter

David Schindel wrote:

"I wonder if KU would consider splitting Taxacom into two listserves. One could 
be RetroTaxaCom that would provide an echo chamber for those who want to nurse 
their wounded sense of entitlement to public funds in support of traditional 
monographs with very limited readership (however high their quality). The other 
could be CyberTaxaCom for those looking to develop faster, more relevant and 
useful taxonomic products and promoting public understanding and appreciation 
for biodiversity."

It's very sad to read this, even if Schindel happens to be Executive Secretary 
of the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) and perhaps feels aggrieved by 
criticisms of barcoding. "Cybertaxonomy" is practised by many Taxacomers, even 
at alpha-taxonomic levels, and has little to do with the familiar discussion 
points on Taxacom.
-- 
Dr Robert Mesibov
Honorary Research Associate
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, and
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania
Home contact: PO Box 101, Penguin, Tasmania, Australia 7316
Ph: (03) 64371195; 61 3 64371195
Webpage: http://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/?articleID=570

_______________________________________________

Taxacom Mailing List
Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom

The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these 
methods:

(1) http://taxacom.markmail.org

Or (2) a Google search specified as:  site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom  
your search terms here