[Taxacom] Generic type of large genus belongs in different genus

[David Campbell]

A complication applying to any nomenclature system is the vast variation in
how stable and established the nomenclature is.  Although there are no
doubt many vinegar fly species not currently recognized out there, there's
been a fair amount of work on the group and basic outlines seem well
established (to this non-entomologist).  Also, S. melanogaster is extremely
widely mentioned, so it is a very familiar species, but under Drosophila.
Many other groups are too poorly sampled or beset by such conflicting
classifications that a stable name is a long way off.  Practically, we
always need a balance between trying to keep abreast of the latest
classification and taking the time to see if the latest classification
holds up with further work, besides the problems selecting between lumping,
splitting, or somewhere in between.


On Thu, Apr 11, 2013 at 3:45 AM, Paul van Rijckevorsel
<dipteryx at freeler.nl>wrote:

> It looks to me that the important thing is that there are
> well-established Codes of nomenclature that are accepted
> world-wide. In a world that appears to be divided on just
> about anything this surely is precious.
>
> Sure, they could be better written, and they could work
> better. But they are there, they do work, and there are not
> even that many of them. Further fracturing is to be
> discouraged (I do not know how serious mycologists
> were in threatening to start their own Code, but surely
> it is a good thing not to have to deal with a separate
> mycological Code), and starting entirely new Codes is
> an entirely bad idea.
>
> This insistence that there should be an exact 1:1 relationship
> between names and taxa is just silly. Scientific names
> require some care in handling (the map is not the territory),
> but this is nothing new. If I go to buy a can of white wall
> paint I am not assuming that the label (or the salesperson)
> will tell me what exactly I am getting (there can be big
> differences between paints with almost identical labels);
> this does not mean that labels are useless.
>
> Paul
>
>
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-- 
Dr. David Campbell
Assistant Professor, Geology
Department of Natural Sciences
Gardner-Webb University
Boiling Springs NC 28017