[Taxacom] Guess numbers of new taxa described per year?

[Tony Rees]

Dear Taxacomers,

I have been compiling a database of genus names and higher taxa - with
authors and publication years for the genera at least - for some time so I
know some answers to a couple of these questions from my own holdings, but
I wonder if they would surprise anyone (they surprised me!). So my
questions are, taking for example a relatively recent era for which data
are available (say 2000-2010), what would anyone imagine to be approximate
average numbers of new species, genera, and families described per year,
across all groups (except viruses, for which authors and years are not
generally cited)? Some answers are out there in internet land (for species
that is all I would have too), others are not...

I just thought it might be interesting to hear what numbers taxonomists (or
other biology persons) might guess. I will relay my answers (on genera and
families that I have in my database) in a little while.

(Then we have to divide the answers by the numbers of working taxonomists
to find out how busy they are, and why they get so little home life!)

Regards - Tony

Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
https://about.me/TonyRees