[Taxacom] Why stability? - Revisited

[Jim Croft]

This is not strictly true. The purpose of the type is to anchor the name,
as Paul describes. It is not to centre, circumscribe or in any way define
the taxon. That is a separate process that may end up including one or more
types, and hence one or more names. At least with plants. People may think
they are defining a taxon by selecting the 'best' possible type to
represent their concept, and it is probably a wise thing to do, but this is
not what is happening according to the Code. They are simply anchoring the
name.

Jim
 On 05/05/2015 5:20 AM, "Weakley, Alan" <weakley at bio.unc.edu> wrote:

> The type is a flag in space around which the circumscription of a taxon
> (its concept) is defined -- usually in relation to other, "competing" taxa.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of
> Paul van Rijckevorsel
> Sent: Monday, May 04, 2015 7:57 AM
> To: TAXACOM
> Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Why stability? - Revisited
>
> I was a little uneasy why Stephen Thorpe's attitude that taxa are defined
> by types is so alien to me.
>
> But it is very straightforward: from the very first the 'botanical' Code
> has laid down that nomenclatural types are not necessarily the most typical
> or representative element of a taxon (that is, holding only the type, it is
> not possible to predict with any degree of confidence what the taxon
> exactly looks
> like: the type is only the type) .
>
> For plants there does exist a situation where the whole unit is determined
> by a reference specimen, namely in the ICNCP (Cultivated-plant-Code),
> resulting in names of the type Hydrangea macrophylla 'La France'.
>
> The ICNCP deals with a field of considerable complexity (and which does
> benefit from regulation), but taxonomy is not involved.
>
> Paul
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