scientific names--standardization
Michael Gochfeld
gochfeld at eohsi.rutgers.edu
Sat Mar 28 18:53:40 EST 1998
As long as systematists believe that scientific nomenclature has to
change to correspond to the latest understanding (i.e. fads) of
relationships, scientific names will inevitably change frequently.
Indeed, Paul Ehrlich (lepidopterist) chastized systematists
(particularly ornithologists), for not getting the point and for
believing that "biological species" have a reality.
I recently learned that Parus atricapillus is undergoing a name change
to reflect some new generic alignment of the chickadees. So forgive
those of us who are skeptical.
Mike Gochfeld
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