Fwd: Re: Data Entry Query

[Doug Yanega]

Curtis Clark wrote:

>At 10:22 2003.01.08, Doug Yanega wrote:
>>This problem would vanish if the taxonomic community would adopt some
>>form of name registration (yes, the dreaded "R" word), where every
>>taxon is assigned a random unique number.
>
>Uh, don't you mean each *name* is assigned a unique number?

Yes, sorry - "taxon name" was intended. Each such number would be
given a "status" tag (e.g., synonym, homonym, etc.) and a "rank" tag
(e.g., genus, subspecies, etc.), and the list of numbers and their
tags would together represent the authority file. Different taxonomic
opinions would be reflected by different sets of tags associated with
the same numbers. Centralized public availability of such files would
greatly facilitate community-wide convergence upon a consensus
classification, to the extent that such is possible; in other words,
there could be a recommended standard classification for any given
taxonomic group. The links between such a system and something like
The Tree of Life are obvious.

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://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82