DNA barcodes catalogue animals

Doug Yanega dyanega at pop.ucr.edu
Thu May 15 18:22:53 EDT 2003


>Doug, you don't mention how they are going to identify the species so
>they know what they are sequencing once they have it.

They're not. Hebert states that each species will be defined *and* 
identified by its barcode, implying that there is no need for any 
higher classification - unless, of course, people like us (hung up on 
the outdated and unsuccesful Linnaean approach) choose to waste our 
time and taxpayer money to make one after the fact. Nomenclature and 
classification are evidently mere adjuncts to species cataloguing in 
his vision, and can be tacked-on if anyone feels a need to have names 
for species, for convenience's sake. Remember that his DNA barcoding 
approach defines a species as anything with as much as a single base 
pair difference; therefore, most "traditional" species will be split 
up into many different taxa, and obviously they can't all be given 
the same name, nor can we ever know (for most taxa which already have 
names) which sequence actually goes with the holotype - one of the 
reasons his approach is to abandon typological classification.
Yes, Hebert is a man who - without public opposition - advocates 
discarding the Linnaean approach completely, including eliminating 
the use of type specimens to fix species identity. THIS is the kind 
of press coverage given to taxonomy these days; statements that 
taxonomists are obsolete, and museums are obsolete, uttered with 
completely sincerity by the head of a major biology department at a 
major university. Outrageous, in every sense of the word.

>I think that will take more than the time and money allotted alone.  Nathan

That imaginary time and dollar budget is so far off, I can't imagine 
why no one has called his bluff on it.

Peace,
-- 

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
              http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82

 
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