Taxacom: Mandatory ending correction after 226 years of wrong usage - the Dasytes case

[Paul van Rijckevorsel]

If there is a widely-used book that uses a particular
species name, and because of a change in insight
on the gender of a generic name this species name
would get a different ending, then, to be fit for a
general public, the book would need to be revised
and printed anew.

If this is not instability, I don't know what is ...

Paul

On 02/02/2025 12:24, Francisco Welter-Schultes via Taxacom wrote:
> Paul,
> In zoology many (or some?) taxonomists argue that changing the ending 
> of a specific name is not an issue of stability, because the name does 
> not change, only the ending. Do botanists follow a different approach?
>
> Cheers
> Francisco
>
> Am 02.02.2025 um 14:14 schrieb Paul van Rijckevorsel via Taxacom:
>> Hi Francisco,
>>
>> Stability.
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>> On 02/02/2025 12:03, Francisco Welter-Schultes via Taxacom wrote:
>>> Dear Paul,
>>> do you know why under the botanical Code changing the ending of 
>>> epithets is avoided, by conserving traditionally applied genders for 
>>> generic names?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> Francisco
>>>
>>> Am 02.02.2025 um 11:43 schrieb Paul van Rijckevorsel via Taxacom:
>>>>
>>>> On 29/01/2025 23:44, Douglas Yanega via Taxacom wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> [...] Second, you seem to be using a different definition of
>>>>> stability than what the Code uses. [...] Instability is *when 
>>>>> taxonomists disagree* on what name/spelling/variant to use. The 
>>>>> Code's concept of stability/instability is more akin to the 
>>>>> dichotomy between consensus and dispute, and not the sense of 
>>>>> "never changing". Names can change a LOT without creating 
>>>>> instability, as long as all taxonomists adopt the changes.
>>>> ***
>>>> If the zoological /Code/ were to mean this by "instability" this
>>>> would represent an extremely unfortunate choice of words,
>>>> quite unnecessary because there is no lack of words which
>>>> would avoid this ambiguity.
>>>>
>>>> Also, it would be quite counter to the spirit of a /Code/ of
>>>> nomenclature, in general. The purpose of a /Code/ is to govern
>>>> names (directly), and thereby promote consensus among users
>>>> (that is, indirectly). Not the other way round.
>>>>
>>>> It is also contradicted by Principle 4: "... would be destructive
>>>> of stability or universality ..." which clearly accepts stability
>>>> and universality as two separate concepts.
>>>>
>>>> FWIW, under the 'botanical' Code, it is not at all uncommon
>>>> to conserve generic names with a particular gender, so as to
>>>> avoid changes in endings of epithets.
>>>>
>>>> Paul
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