[Taxacom] "how to approach the revision of a taxon": a plea

[Robin Leech]

Hi one and all,

The facts given by Herbert are the reasons behind Prof. Dr Pierre Bonnet's petition to the Commission back 
in the late 1940s to use the spider names in Svenska Spindlar, published by Charles Clerck in 1757, over and 
above those in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae by Linnaeus in 1758.

The Commission agreed with Bonnet's petition, but for reasons I do not understand, the Commission's 
decision was not published in the first two editions of the ICZN (1961 and 1964), but it was in the 3rd 
edition of 1985.  To get around the problem of opening up a whole year previous to 1758, the Commission 
ruled that the functional date of publication of Clerck's work and Linnaeus's work will be 1758.
We in the spider bizzo do not follow that quite - we acknowledge it by using the Clerckian names, and 
writing 1757, as in Araneus diadematus Clerck, 1757.

And the reasons for the selection of Clerck's work is that all of spiders are featured in color figures, and 
the descriptions, each at least a half page long or longer, are in Swedish and Latin.

In most cases, it would not matter if the types were lost as the diagnoses and pictures are so good that 
there is no question about what species in under consideration.  

As a side note, I mention that because the decision of the Commission was not known widely, I was able 
to purchase a copy of Clerck's work, original and uncut, for only $166, in 1966.  They are quite a bit more 
expensive today - if you can find one for sale.

Robin

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Herbert Jacobson" <jakejudy at hotmail.com>
To: <curini at uniss.it>; <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Friday, April 29, 2011 6:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] "how to approach the revision of a taxon": a plea



Relax a little. You have the perfect story. It's what most taxonomist do everyday. We work on little know groups where the Types are lost, destroyed, or who knows where. The descriptions are vague, 
contradictory, or, like the Types, lost. It's also the reason many of us became taxonomists. 
 
Tell your story. It's a good one,
 
Herb 
> From: curini at uniss.it
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 18:58:58 +0200
> Subject: [Taxacom] "how to approach the revision of a taxon": a plea
> 
> some of you may have proved this special feeling... the deadline of your lecture approaching, and feeling totally inadeguate to the task........it is a disturbing sensation (disturbing at present, with the deadline on may 20th - it will be horrible on may 19th...).
> What I (alas, too lightly..) accepted to lecture was 'How to approach the revision of a taxon (some clues and a practical example)' in a spring school, addressed to PhD and post-doctoral students (I guess mostly italians) , which will be held in Venice (yes, this may have prompted my quick acceptation....).
> I (somehow...) revised the taxon I work on (Proseriata, a group of microturbellarians) - but I am afraid they would not be much useful as 'practical examples' (tiny, soft-bodied creatures, of which there are almost no collections in museums (and those few, made by german students, mostly blew up during WWII...), need to be studied in sections, bibliography far from extensive...). Many taxa are certainly not so.....
> would some of you want to share your experiences on other taxa? any input/suggestion on how to organize the lecture (which could make my presentation, and my present feelings, less miserable...) is absolutely welcome.................
> thank you.....................
> 
> Marco Curini-Galletti
> Dipartimento di Zoologia e Genetica Evoluzionistica
> Università di Sassari
> Via F. Muroni, 25 - 07100 Sassari (Italy)
> Tel: +39 079 228662 Fax: +39 079 228665
> _______________________________________________
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The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these methods:

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