[Taxacom] Taxonomy of removing subspecies

[Paul van Rijckevorsel]

Note that in botany reducing subspecies (and
varieties, etc) into the synonymy of species is
nothing out of the ordinary, see for example
http://edepot.wur.nl/289995#page=9

But in the ICNafp the concept "synonym" is different
from that of the ICZN.

Paul

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Grehan" <calabar.john at gmail.com>
To: "Doug Yanega" <dyanega at ucr.edu>
Cc: "taxacom" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2018 7:18 PM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Taxonomy of removing subspecies


> Doug,
>
> Yes that makes perfect sense and corresponds to what I was attempting to
> articulate. Many thanks to you and others for helpful clarification.
>
> John Grehan
>
> On Fri, May 11, 2018 at 1:07 PM, Doug Yanega <dyanega at ucr.edu> wrote:
>
>> On 5/11/18 9:45 AM, John Grehan wrote:
>>
>>>   Francisco and Barry,
>>>
>>> Thanks for the feedback To be sure I understand correctly, the 
>>> subspecies
>>> names are already junior synonyms so of one eliminates (or no longer
>>> recognizes) the subspecies entities, then they are not new synonyms
>>> because
>>> they are already junior synonyms. Sorry to belabor the point, just want 
>>> to
>>> be sure I get that right!
>>>
>>> The relevant Code Article is 61.3.1:
>>
>> "61.3.1. If nominal taxa with different name-bearing types are referred 
>> to
>> a single taxonomic taxon, their names are subjective synonyms at the rank
>> of that taxon (but need not be synonyms at a subordinate rank).
>>
>> Example. The different name-bearing types of Psittacus elegans Gmelin,
>> 1788 and Platycercus flaveolus Gould, 1837 are considered to belong to a
>> single taxonomic species of rosella parrot of which Platycercus elegans
>> (Gmelin, 1788) is the valid name. Although the names are subjective
>> synonyms at the rank of species, they are not synonyms at the subordinate
>> rank of subspecies of Platycercus elegans, for which the valid names are
>> Pl. e. elegans (Gmelin, 1788) and Pl. e. flaveolus Gould, 1837."
>>
>> As such, the names you refer to were already synonyms at the species rank
>> (so their status as synonyms at the species rank is not new), but they 
>> also
>> continue to be valid at the subspecies rank, for any taxonomist who 
>> accepts
>> subspecies. Deciding not to accept subspecies is a *taxonomic* decision,
>> not a nomenclatural act. The exception would be if the author formally
>> synonymized some (but not all) of the existing subspecies with the 
>> nominate
>> subspecies.
>>
>> Hope that makes sense,
>>
>> --
>> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
>> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
>> phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>>              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
>>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
>>
>>
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>> Nurturing Nuance while Assaulting Ambiguity for 31 Some Years, 1987-2018.
>>
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