[Taxacom] unflagged classification change question

[Stephen Thorpe]

Hi Derek,
I'm deliberately answering your question before reading the replies by others, so as to give you an independent response.
The obvious answer to your question is simply to explain the situation in the publication as you explained it in the Taxacom post and just say that you consider the synonymy to be correct, so, in the absence of any explanation by Smith for treating it again as a valid species, you are continuing to treat it as a synonym. Note that synonymy isn't a formal nomenclatural act in zoology, so there is no sense in which Smith "has made it a valid species again". It is simply a valid species in his opinion, and although everyone is entitled to their opinion, nobody is obliged to follow.
I hope this helps (and I apologise in advance for any repetition of what others may have replied),
Cheers,
Stephen

--------------------------------------------
On Tue, 12/6/18, Derek Sikes <dssikes at alaska.edu> wrote:

 Subject: [Taxacom] unflagged classification change question
 To: "taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu" <Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 Received: Tuesday, 12 June, 2018, 6:52 AM
 
 All,
 
 For those of you who keep track of one
 or more taxonomic classifications on
 which you are an authority...
 
 I'd like to know how you'd react to the
 following (all too-realistic)
 hypothetical scenario:
 
 *You find a publication by Smith in
 which a species name that you feel had
 been justifiably made a junior synonym
 some years earlier, was treated as a
 valid species with no explanation for
 the change. *
 
 In the next publication you produce on
 the group do you:
 
 A) list it as a valid species citing
 Smith's publication
 
 B) re-synonymize it, cite Smith, and
 explain that there was no evidence
 offered by Smith for the change
 
 C) ignore (don't cite) Smith and list
 it as a junior synonym
 
 D) something else? (& for this
 hypothetical, imagine Smith recently died)
 
 Thanks,
 Derek
 
 -- 
 
 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 Derek S. Sikes, Curator of Insects
 Associate Professor of Entomology
 University of Alaska Museum
 1962 Yukon Drive
 Fairbanks, AK   99775-6960
 
 dssikes at alaska.edu
 
 phone: 907-474-6278
 FAX: 907-474-5469
 
 University of Alaska Museum 
 -  search 400,276 digitized arthropod records
 http://arctos.database.museum/uam_ento_all
 <http://www.uaf.edu/museum/collections/ento/>
 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 Interested in Alaskan Entomology? Join
 the Alaska Entomological
 Society and / or sign up for the email
 listserv "Alaska Entomological
 Network" at
 http://www.akentsoc.org/contact_us <http://www.akentsoc.org/contact.php>
 _______________________________________________
 Taxacom Mailing List
 Send Taxacom mailing list submissions
 to: Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
 
 http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
 The Taxacom Archive back to 1992 may be
 searched at: http://taxacom.markmail.org
 To subscribe or unsubscribe via the
 Web, visit: http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
 You can reach the person managing the
 list at: taxacom-owner at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
 
 Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting
 Ambiguity for 31 Some Years, 1987-2018.