[Taxacom] DNA only descriptions

[Stephen Thorpe]

Jason,
I assume you were talking to me in particular? You misrepresent my views. Think 
of it this way: there is an effectively infinite amount of taxonomic work 
needing to be done before we can fully understand the world's biota. Therefore 
we need to prioritize. The only thing I object to is wasting time and resources 
on molecular taxonomy of "cryptic species" when it is relatively remote from 
human experience/perception, only verifiable by people with access to the 
relevant equipment (thus alienating most of the world), and there is a whole 
heap of more *basic* taxonomy left to do in many groups (like mites and beetles, 
etc.)  Somehow, *basic* has become synonymous with *not worth doing*, and it 
looks better on a CV to have done molecular stuff instead. But *basic* actually 
means fundamental - the basis upon which all else is built. If this makes me a 
"creationist", then "praise the Lord"!
Stephen




________________________________
From: Jason Mate <jfmate at hotmail.com>
To: Taxacom <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
Sent: Tue, 17 August, 2010 10:48:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] DNA only descriptions




I think (correct me if I´m wrong) that your species concept is typological. It 
must be, simply because to believe in an "only morphological taxonomy" entails 
viewing species as isolated idealised types. I am not saying you are a 
creationist, but you are focusing on the human experience/perception of 
biodiversity and have jettisoned the rest.

That said there has been a lot of (undeserved) fanfare surrounding the barcoding 
initiatives and other related projects and I agree that a significant portion of 
resources are going to these. These biologists are just marketing themselves as 
best they can and have hit on a good formula. Something else will come along in 
the future no doubt. Nevertheless, shutting yourself from a source of data 
(regardless of the sort, so it is equally applicable to Lyn Cook´s minions), 
because you think it is lazy, is a moral stance. 


Best 

Jason

                        
_______________________________________________

Taxacom Mailing List
Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom

The Taxacom archive going back to 1992 may be searched with either of these 
methods:

(1) http://taxacom.markmail.org

Or (2) a Google search specified as:  site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom  
your search terms here