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

Mon Feb 3 12:53:40 CST 2025

I'd be very grateful if someone can supply a copy of the paper changing
Dasytes to feminine:

Gimmel, M.L., Mayor, A.J. 2024. Taxonomic overview of world Dasytinae
(Coleoptera: Melyridae), with emphasis on the North American fauna of the
subfamily and two newly established tribes. The Coleopterists' Bulletin 78,
499-536.

On Mon, Feb 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM Paul van Rijckevorsel via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> That seems an overstatement. The ICNafp is quite clear
> that /Aus albus/ is a name, while the epithet /albus/ by itself
> has no status whatsoever. This is not a matter of insight, or viewpoint,
> but of definition.
>
> The zoological /Code/ differs in that although it also defines
> /Aus albus/ as a name, but in addition it defines /albus /(by itself) as
> a formal name. This means that the zoological
> /Code/ uses adual system of nomenclature that indeed could be explained
> better.
> That the zoological /Aus albus/ is a name should be
> abundantly clear:
> 1) various provisions in the zoological /Code/, see for example the
> Glossary entry of "species name".
> 2) to take Doug's example: it may be true that "striata,
> striatus, and striatum are all the same name" but that
> does not mean that, say, '/Exempstriatus/', '/Exempstriata/'
> and '/Exempstriatum'/ can be used interchangeably. That
> is obviously not so: the species name is a separate formal
> entity.
> 3) the world at large needs and expects species names that
> are unambiguous units. The idea that a species should be
> indicated by a combination of two names appears to be
> expressly tailored to make the general public actively
> hate and despise zoological nomenclature. This is creating
> complexity for the mere sake of making things complex.
>
> That there are zoologists who cannot handle the
> zoological dual system of nomenclature and deny that
> half of the system even exists is indeed a problem, and
> quite a fundamental one. It appears to require a rewrite
> of the /Code/ that substantially reduces the ambiguity and makes it
> harder for zoologists to believe in non-/Code/- compliant interpretations.
>
> Paul
>
> On 02/02/2025 13:28, Richard Pyle wrote:
> > The reason for the different meaning of "stability" between ICZN Code
> and ICNafp Code is ultimately because of how the word "name" is generally
> treated differently between practitioners of the two Codes.
> >
> > This is not precisely enshrined in the Zoological Code (not sure of the
> botanical Code), but in my many interactions with both categories of
> taxonomists, folks in the "afp" camp tend to consider a "name" as the full
> combination, including precise spelling (hence the tracking of authorships
> of combinations); whereas many in the "Z" camp think of the "name" as a
> conceptual object, rather than a precise orthography or combination.
> >
> > For example, whereas the "afp" folks might see the name "Aus albus" as
> one name, many of the "Z" folks would see that as two "names" (one in the
> genus group, and one in the species group).  But the Z folks are a bit
> inconsistent on this, as the current Code Glossary provides three
> definitions for the word "name":
> >
> > "(1) (general) A word, or ordered sequence of words, conventionally used
> to denote and identify a particular entity (e.g. a person, place, object,
> concept). (2) Equivalent to scientific name (q.v.). (3) An element of the
> name of a species-group taxon: see generic name, subgeneric name, specific
> name, subspecific name."
> >
> > Number 2 is more or less consistent with the "afp" interpretation, but
> many (most?) zoologists I know tend to think of it more in the sense of
> number 3 definition.
> >
> > But more to the point, I, and I believe many others, measure "stability"
> in terms of the *conceptual* name, not in terms of any particular
> combination or orthography.  As Doug explained, "stability" in this sense,
> means there is an objective set of rules to determine whether the
> species-group epithet "bus" has nomenclatural priority over the
> species-group epithet "cus", such that when the name-bearing type of each
> of these names is deemed taxonomically conspecific, all workers will
> consistently select the same epithet (also incorporating objective rules
> for availability).  By contrast, many (admittedly not all) zoologists would
> not interpret a change in generic classification (e.g., "Aus bus" to "Mus
> bus"), or a change in orthography ("bus" when combined with a masculine
> genus, vs. "ba" when combined with a feminine genus or "bum" when combined
> with a neuter genus) as "nomenclatural instability") as "instability" in
> the nomenclatural sense.
> >
> > In other words, from the perspective of many zoologists the "stability"
> that matters is the conceptual name units and their respective
> availabilities and priorities, rather than any particular combination
> (=classification) or orthography (=spelling, specific string of characters).
> >
> > No doubt some zoologists will disagree with my interpretation above.
> >
> > Aloha,
> > Rich
> >
> > Richard L. Pyle, PhD
> > Director of EXCORE | Senior Curator of Ichthyology | Database
> Coordinator for Natural Sciences
> > Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum
> > 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817-2704
> > Office: (808) 848-4115;  Fax: (808) 847-8252
> > eMail:deepreef at bishopmuseum.org
> > BishopMuseum.org
> > Our Mission: Bishop Museum inspires our community and visitors through
> the exploration and celebration of the extraordinary history, culture, and
> environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific.
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: Taxacom<taxacom-bounces at lists.ku.edu> On Behalf Of Paul van
> >> Rijckevorsel via Taxacom
> >> Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2025 5:44 AM
> >> To:taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> >> Subject: Re: Taxacom: Mandatory ending correction after 226 years of
> wrong
> >> usage - the Dasytes case
> >>
> >>
> >> 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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*Molecular panbiogeography of the tropics. *University of California Press,
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*Panbiogeography: Tracking the history of life*. Oxford University Press,
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