names and numbers

[Curtis Clark]

At 06:40 AM 10/17/01, Panza, Robin wrote:
>Now what?  Some collections may accept the new name and assign the new
>number to those of their specimens that agree with the description.  Other
>curators don't accept the new name and keep the old number for all their
>specimens.  There goes the utility of the numbers.

and Richard Pyle responded:
>In fact, specimen identifications are the *ultimate* assertions,

Another way of saying this is that assigning a name to any specimen other
than an identified type is a determination, and all determinations are
subjective. This can never change if systematics is to remain a science,
open to new data and interpretations. I think Richard's view of assertions
is an extremely useful way of dealing with this reality in the context of a
database.


--
Curtis Clark                  http://www.csupomona.edu/~jcclark/
Biological Sciences Department             Voice: (909) 869-4062
California State Polytechnic University      FAX: (909) 869-4078
Pomona CA 91768-4032  USA                  jcclark at csupomona.edu