Taxacom: type versus description (was Re: Minimalist revision of Mesochorus)

[Richard Pyle]

Ah!  Good, point, Doug!  I never thought of it that way before.  While it's not a direct provision of the Code, it's an indirect consequence of taxonomists following a mismatched description without examining the type, at least in some cases where:

- Name established with name-bearing type and description
- Description is not consistent with the type
- Broader taxonomic community consistently applies the name to organisms matching the description, rather than the type
- Via prevailing usage, the indirect consequence of the description mismatch ends in favor of the description

As you note, however, the same applies (and probably more frequently) when the type and the description agree with each other, but the broader taxonomic community nevertheless established a prevailing usage situation where the application of the name did not accord with either the type or the description (and/or the description was sufficiently vague that it applied equally to both the type and to members of another taxon).

But I agree there are a subset of situations where a description can (indirectly, through its effect on prevailing usage) come into alignment with the name, to the exclusion of the original name-bearing type.  Even in that situation, the remedy is to establish a neotype, in which case the name-bearing type re-acquires its supremacy.

Aloha,
Rich



Richard L. Pyle, PhD
Senior Curator of Ichthyology | Director of XCoRE
Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817-2704
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of Douglas
> Yanega via Taxacom
> Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2023 4:49 AM
> To: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> Subject: Taxacom: type versus description (was Re: Minimalist revision of
> Mesochorus)
> 
> On 8/30/23 6:59 PM, Richard Pyle via Taxacom wrote:
> > In this context, the latter requirement (description or definition) has no real
> "function" (at least not one that is necessarily useful) in the business of
> nomenclature.  It certainly serves an extremely important function for
> *taxonomy*, and indeed a lot of the difference between "good" taxonomy
> and "bad" taxonomy boils down to how robust and accurate this description
> or definition is. But it serves almost no function for nomenclature sensu
> stricto.  The closest function it might serve for nomenclature is as a "backup"
> to the name-bearing type (when the latter is not accessible or is lost), and
> similarly as a guide for selecting a neotype or lectotype.  But even then, there
> are no rules in the Code that leverage the description or definition in this
> way.
> 
> This is not *always* the case, however. There is one Article in the Code
> where a description MIGHT override a type: Article 75.6.
> 
> "When an author discovers that the existing name-bearing type of a nominal
> species-group taxon is not in taxonomic accord with the prevailing usage of
> names and stability or universality is threatened thereby, he or she should
> maintain prevailing usage [Art. 82] and request the Commission to set aside
> under its plenary power [Art. 81] the existing name-bearing type and
> designate a neotype."
> 
> While there are several ways such a discrepancy might arise, there IS a subset
> of these cases where the description conforms to the taxon known by a
> name, but the type does not, so the type has to be replaced.
> 
> Peace,
> 
> --
> 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)
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