subspecies

[Kenelm Philip]

> If some professional taxonomists do not like subspecies then that is just
> fine with me but I do not care...... Pooh-poohing something because of who
> said something or where they said it is anti-science as well as being
> non-science.

	And if some people decide to describe over 200 new subspecies in
the western U.S. in one fell swoop, I don't care very much. :-)   As I
have said before, I'm not particularly interested in subspecies _names_.
Whenever I hear about a new subspecies, I have one immediate question:
where is it found? So for my own purposes, in the far north, I prefer to
keep the Alaska Lep. Survey collection in strict geographical order--and
if geographical variation shows up I just refer to it by adding the
location in square brackets. That tells me what I need to know.

	Norbert took my posting farther than I meant it to go. I was not
trying to 'pooh-pooh' the entire concept of subspecies on the authority
of one taxonomist. Rather, I was trying to point out that taxonomists (both
amateur and professional) can disagree about these matters. Anyone is free
to do what they like, of course. I have not found that previously-named
subspecies in the arctic are very useful--perhaps because of the well-
known situation that the boundaries between described arctic subspecies
tend to fall in uncollected areas. The relation between a specimen and
its collection site can, however, be relied upon! And--just to make
everyone happy--the ICZN has nothing to say about referring to organisms
by their locality, so I can pursue this eccentric path without worrying
about whether or not the Code is being obeyed.

	To quote Norbert again: "Many people will continue to hang new
names on organisms and reinterpret information to derive taxonomic decisions
that differ from those of others. Fact of life, get used to it :-)" I agree
heartily...

								Ken Philip
fnkwp at uaf.edu




 
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