[Taxacom] ICZN policy on replacing lost type specimens

[Michael A. Ivie]

No, Doug, the Code is not what  you want it to say, it is what it 
actually says. To say that  the Code of Ethics requires or even suggests 
what  you say is simply wrong -- it says nothing of the type.  Your 
entire message could have been better to simply say "as in all things 
dealing with nomenclature and types, be sure to carefully read and 
follow the Code."  It is rather insulting to this community to think we 
need a pedantic lecture to simply do what is obvious.  Then, to start 
trying to say the Commission believes the Code and the Appendices should 
be read broadly to indicate what YOU WISH it said, not what it actually 
says, is to invite chaos.

Your statement " if we ask that people contact authors about replacing 
their *names* (which we do), then we should also ask that people contact 
authors about replacing their *types*" shows that you are talking about 
extending what is in the Code to what you THINK SHOULD be in the Code, 
but it is not there.  If you can make such leaps here, then anyone can 
make the same kind of leaps on other provisions.  This is not permissible.

Further, you say "Things like this, that the Code does not explicitly 
say or require, ARE part of the document" is simply not true. If it does 
not explicitly say it, it is not part of the document.  How a 
Commissioner can be confused about this is astounding! From the 
Introduction: "Problems in nomenclature are decided by applying the Code 
directly... "

Mike



On 9/13/2018 11:48 AM, Doug Yanega wrote:
> On 9/13/18 9:34 AM, Michael A. Ivie wrote:
>> The writers should perhaps have thought about this more before 
>> sending it out.
>>
>> 3. B. Indicates the writers are unfamiliar with the documents or are 
>> writing from memory rather than from direct consultation of the text. 
>> The statement "The second step, in keeping with Appendix A of the 
>> Code (Code of Ethics), is to contact the original describer(s) of a 
>> species beforeattempting to designate a neotype, and to collaborate 
>> with them or to get their feedback" is simply fiction. The 
>> recommentations in the Appendix deal with proposing NEW NAMES, 
>> Neotypes are not mentioned at all. A Neotype does not, as I am sure 
>> they know, establish a new name.
>>
>> However, I fail to see how you could fully establish that a type is 
>> actually lost without asking a living author if by chance they have 
>> it. This would be the required step involving a valid Neotype 
>> designation under the Code itself. 
> The phrase "in keeping with" was used explicitly rather than "as 
> specified in". We are fully aware that there is nothing in Appendix A 
> regarding neotypes, but the point is that our ethical philosophy needs 
> to be consistent; if we ask that people contact authors about 
> replacing their *names* (which we do), then we should also ask that 
> people contact authors about replacing their *types*. Things like 
> this, that the Code does not explicitly say or require, ARE part of 
> the document, and that's why the heading says "required and 
> recommended" rather than just "required".
>
> Peace,
> -- 
> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
> phone: (951) 827-4315 (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

-- 
__________________________________________________

Michael A. Ivie, Ph.D., F.R.E.S.

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