[Taxacom] loooongest species description?

[Richard Pyle]

The description of Pygoplites diacanthus (Boddaert, 1772) beats that at 43
pages:

Boddaert, Pieter. 1772. Epistola ad virum celeberrium Hier. Dav. Gaubium,
Medicinae Doctorem, in Academia Lugduno-Batava vedicinae practicae atque
chemiae prefessorum, Societatis regiae Londinensis, atque Societatis
scientiarum Harlemensis, Socium, serenissimi principis Arausiaci foederati
Belgii gubernatoris archiatrum. de chaetodonte diacantho, descripto atque
accuratissima icone illustrata ex museo viri celeberrimi Johannis Albertis
Schlosseri, dum in vivis esset medicinae doctoris expertissimi, Societatis
regiae Londinensis, atque Societatis Zeelandicae Scientiarum, quae
flissingae est, socii. M. Magérus, Amstelodami [= Amsterdam]. Pp. 1-43.

Heck, the *title* is longer than some species descriptions.

To be fair, it is a spectacular species:
http://www.google.com/images?q=pygoplites+diacanthus 

Rich

> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-
> bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Frank.Krell at dmns.org
> Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 8:08 AM
> To: andy_deans at ncsu.edu; taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] loooongest species description?
> 
> Andy,
> 
> probably not exactly what you are looking for, but the description of the
> flower chafer Epicometis annabrunae comprises 12 pages:
> Crovetti, A. 1973. Risultati delle mission entomologiche dei Proff. G.
Giori et
> E. Mellini nel Nord-Africa. XXVII. Epicometis (Epicometis) annabrunae n.
sp.
> della Libia (Coleoptera Scarabaeidae Cetoniinae). - Atti della Societa
Italiana di
> Science Naturali et del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Milano 114 (3):
330-
> 344.
> Might be the longest journal title, too.
> The description doesn't contain a record number of characters, but has all
the
> comparisons included in the description. It is still the longest I know.
> :-)
> 
> Frank
> 
> 
> Dr Frank T. Krell
> Curator of Entomology
> Commissioner, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature Chair,
> ICZN ZooBank Committee Department of Zoology Denver Museum of Nature
> & Science
> 2001 Colorado Boulevard
> Denver, CO 80205-5798 USA
> Frank.Krell at dmns.org
> Phone: (+1) (303) 370-8244
> Fax: (+1) (303) 331-6492
> http://www.dmns.org/science/museum-scientists/frank-krell
> 
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [mailto:taxacom-
> bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Deans
> Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 9:15 AM
> To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
> Subject: [Taxacom] loooongest species description?
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> What are your candidates for the longest species description? I'm
especially
> interested in descriptions that have the highest number of *anatomical
> attributes* described, as opposed to behavioral, ecological, or other
> characters. Any thoughts?
> 
> My quick and dirty examination of recent Hymenoptera descriptions yields
> an average of 42 or so morphological characters per description. For the
> purposes of this exercise I am lumping the diagnosis and description
> together. Anyone know of a description that is hundreds of characters long
> and takes up dozens of pages?
> 
> It'd would be fun to see it!
> Just curious,
> Andy
> 
> Andrew R. Deans
> Department of Entomology
> North Carolina State University
> Campus Box 7613
> 2301 Gardner Hall
> Raleigh, NC USA 27695-7613
> 
> phone: +1 (919) 515-2833
> fax: +1 (919) 515-7746
> skype: ardeans
> http://deanslab.org/
> 
> 
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