[Taxacom] Science 24 Feb 2017 letter: Photos belong in taxonomic Code

[Stephen Thorpe]

It seems that "Science" doesn't bother to check the facts of letters that it publishes! How very "Trumpian"!

Stephen

--------------------------------------------
On Fri, 24/2/17, Frank T. Krell <Frank.Krell at dmns.org> wrote:

 Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Science 24 Feb 2017 letter: Photos belong in	taxonomic	Code
 To: "Dilrukshan Wijesinghe" <dpwijesinghe at yahoo.com>, "Taxacom Mailinglist" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 Cc: "arsg at unicamp.br" <arsg at unicamp.br>
 Received: Friday, 24 February, 2017, 4:41 PM
 
 The authors of this letter write that
 the Code should allow photographs and movies to be eligible
 for designation as primary types. "This change would allow
 valid species descriptions [...] without violating the
 Code."
 
 May I point out that describing new species on the basis of
 photographs or movies does *not* violate the Code. It is
 just that the specimens shown in those media are the types,
 not the photographs or movies themselves. In these cases the
 types are not preserved and, in most cases, are deemed to be
 lost. But this is still Code-compliant.
 
 It may violate good taxonomic practice though - in Cases
 where types could have been preserved.
 
 Please read the Code, people. There is definitely no
 revision of the Code needed to accommodate photo-based
 descriptions.
 On the contrary, I would say that the Code should more
 strongly discourage descriptions without preserved type
 specimens when type specimens could easily be preserved and
 remain diagnostic in the preserved stage. 
 
 Frank
 
 
 Dr. Frank-Thorsten Krell
 
 Senior Curator of Entomology, Editor-in-Chief
 Commissioner and Councillor, International Commission on
 Zoological Nomenclature
 Department of Zoology
 Denver Museum of Nature & Science
 2001 Colorado Blvd
 Denver, Colorado 80205-5798, U.S.A.
 Frank.krell at dmns.org
 Phone 303.370.8244
 Fax 303.331.6492
 http://www.dmns.org/krell-lab   
  
 
 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Taxacom [mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]
 On Behalf Of Dilrukshan Wijesinghe
 Sent: Thursday, February 23, 2017 7:55 PM
 To: Taxacom Mailinglist <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
 Subject: [Taxacom] Science 24 Feb 2017 letter: Photos belong
 in taxonomic Code
 
 There is a Letter by André Rinaldo Senna Garrafoni &
 André Victor Lucci Freitas in Science 24 February 2017
 [Vol. 355, Issue 6327], p. 805, titled "Photos belong in
 taxonomic Code". The authors advocate the use of photos
 & movies to serve as types, especially for meiofaunal
 organisms (e.g. gastrotrichs), specimens of which lose
 diagnostic features after preservation.
 Priyantha
  D. P. Wijesinghe
 dpwijesinghe at yahoo.com
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