Species vs. Subspecies

[Michael Gochfeld]

Do you suppose it's something other than the philosophy and experience
of the person who described the second of the two taxa.  That plus lack
of a knowledgable reviser. Maybe the "school" to which the describer
belonged(s) would explain it all.  

Mike Gochfeld
===============================
"Kondla, Norbert FOR:EX" wrote:
> 
> The perennial problem. I will refrain from mentioning the specifics to
> protect the innocent and also because I am more interested in reaction to
> the logic than the specifics of the case. But the case is real. Here is the
> scenario: two taxa, allopatric by about 300 kilometres where they come
> closest; they look plainly different and they have structural differences in
> the genitalia. Seems like the normal taxonomic practice would be to rank
> them as separate species. In fact these two taxa are treated in current
> literature as subspecies.  I am interested in any thoughts on why different
> looking butterflies with structural differences would be treated as
> subspecies when the normal practice is to go the species route.
> 
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Norbert Kondla  P.Biol., RPBio.
> Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management
> 845 Columbia Avenue, Castlegar, British Columbia V1N 1H3
> Phone 250-365-8610
> Mailto:Norbert.Kondla at gems3.gov.bc.ca
> http://www.env.gov.bc.ca
> 
> 
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-- 

================================================
Michael Gochfeld, MD, PhD
Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
170 Frelinghuysen Road
Piscataway, NJ 08854  USA
732-445-0123 X627  fax 732-445-0130

 
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