common names

[Michael Gochfeld]

Stan's point is a clear exposition of the problem. Scientific names 
serve two masters which accounts for the imperfections. When I did the 
comparison of names from the 1890's to 1990's for scientific names, I 
found that although the "name" (a combination of generic and species) 
had usually changed, in fact, the species name was often unchanged. Thus 
as species get assigned to different taxa (as they often do), the 
combinations change.  In some areas of systematics, they report "comb 
nov." to indicate that it is not a new species, merely a new 
combination. 

But, whatever the explanation, whether the names are really unstable or 
as Stan suggests,  merely appear to be unstable they have communication 
shortcomings just like as common names. 

Mike Gochfeld

 
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