[Taxacom] Does the species name have to change when it moves genus?

[Roderic Page]

+1

On 18 Jun 2012, at 21:09, Karen Cranston wrote:

>> In terms of making automated global databases, it's definitely an issue. But who actually needs them? I know that that might sound like heresy, but please tell us who needs those names who is not already an expert or know/be-in-contact-with an expert.
> 
> *Raises hand*
> At NESCent, I see many examples of scientists (evolutionary
> biologists, paleontologists, ecologists...) collecting trait data in
> spreadsheets / databases, often broadly across biodiversity. One of
> the critical steps is resolving taxonomic names from the literature.
> There aren't good global resources for doing this (and instability of
> names is one, but not the only, reason why), so most of our groups
> develop their own solutions. It is a huge waste of effort for
> non-taxonomists to re-invent this wheel over and over again.
> 
> Cheers,
> Karen
> 
> -- 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> karen.cranston at gmail.com
> National Evolutionary Synthesis Center
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> 

---------------------------------------------------------
Roderic Page
Professor of Taxonomy
Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine
College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences
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University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

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