[Taxacom] species inquirenda or nomen dubium?

[Stephen Thorpe]

interesting, Ken, thanks ... but you know I don't ask questions if they have 
straightforward answers! I suspect, in this case, that actual usage of the terms 
is very variable, so, basically, every taxonomist means something slightly 
different by the terms. Whether any one can be said to be *the correct one* is a 
moot point. I hadn't thought of your interpretation at all! I don't yet know 
what I think about it ... 

At any rate, my own view is leaning to something like this: 
imagine a taxonomist writing a revision of some genus (Aus). Suppose that they 
start the revision as if none of the taxa had names. They simply sort all the 
material examined into what they consider to be the distinct species, based on 
diagnostic characters of their own choosing. So, they end up with, say, two 
species, sp. A, and  sp. B. Next, they track down and examine all the relevant 
types, say t1, t2, and t3. Suppose that t1 and t2 both belong to sp. A, and t3 
lacks the relevant diagnostic characters (due to damage, or being the wrong sex, 
etc.), and could be either sp. A or sp. B. Let's associate types with their 
names as follows: 

t1=Aus bus [date:1880] 
t2=Aus cus [date: 1990] 
t3=Aus dus 
What should the taxonomist conclude? I suggest: 
there are two species, Aus bus (=Aus cus) and sp. B (species inquirenda). Aus 
dus is a nomen dubium

does this sound plausible to anyone?



________________________________
From: Kenneth Kinman <kennethkinman at webtv.net>
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Sent: Sun, 12 June, 2011 2:06:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] species inquirenda or nomen dubium?

Hi Stephen,
      If the type specimen of Aus Bus lacks diagnostic characters, I
would call it a nomen dubium. 
    Species inquirenda, on the other hand, does not address a lack of
diagnostic characters, but whether the diagnostic characters it
possesses are sufficient to indicate separate species status.  At least
that is my understanding of the difference.  The diagnostic characters
could indicate a separate species, separate subspecies, or just some
other infraspecific variation (even oddball freaks).  
  ----My two cents worth,
                  Ken        
------------------------------------------------------------
Stephen wrote:
      yes, but I still do not have a clear understanding of the
difference between these two terms! 
what if a name, Aus bus, has a type specimen lacking diagnostic
characters (according to some author)? 
Should Aus bus be listed as a species inquirenda or as a nomen dubium? 
we refer to taxa by use of names, so I cannot keep the two issues apart
clearly 
________________________________ 
From: Barry Roth <barry_roth at yahoo.com> 
To: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu 
Sent: Sun, 12 June, 2011 12:26:40 PM 
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] species inquirenda or nomen dubium? 
The first has to do with the status of a taxon, the second pertains to
the status of a name. 
Barry Roth 
On Jun 11, 2011, at 4:59 PM, Stephen Thorpe <stephen_thorpe at
yahoo.co.nz> wrote: 
> I do not have a clear understanding of the difference >between these
two terms 
> ... can anyone explain? 



_______________________________________________

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) by visiting http://taxacom.markmail.org

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