Iris Publishers
Whither Taxonomy? Authored by Jo Darlington In order to collate and interpret. observations - experimental or observational - it is vital to know the identity of the subject organism. To achieve this, a taxonomic system was devised over several hundred years. Descriptions of species range from a few words in Latin, to modern treatments with a full morphological description of a type specimen, supported by tables of measurements, line drawings to scale, and sometimes electron micrographs. But however inadequate the original description, the species name cannot be changed. It can be superseded by a published re-description of the original type specimen, or if that is lost or damaged, of a formally designated replacement type. Generic names, which define the group to which that species belongs, represent a particular expert’s opinion and can be changed by publishing a reasoned argument. These two names, the Generic first (with a capital letter) then ...