[Taxacom] Who should get the kudos v.2

[blaberus1]

I am sending this again as the formatting of my last message went haywire..

I have been debating with historians of science and others for a while now
about who discovered *Semioptera wallacii* (Standardwing Bird of Paradise):
– was it Alfred Russel Wallace or his assistant Ali? They are arguing it
was Ali as he shot the first specimen – and they believe it is a great
injustice it was named after Wallace (in fact I have been called “racist”
for arguing against this point of view!).

Wallace wrote in his book *The Malay Archipelago* “Just as I got home I
overtook Ali returning from shooting with some birds hanging from his belt.
He seemed much pleased, and said, "Look here, sir, what a curious bird,"
holding out what at first completely puzzled me. I saw a bird with a mass
of splendid green feathers on its breast, elongated into two glittering
tufts; but, what I could not understand was a pair of long white feathers,
which stuck straight out from each shoulder. Ali assured me that the bird
stuck them out this way itself, when fluttering its wings, and that they
had remained so without his touching them. I now saw that I had got a great
prize, no less than a completely new form of the Bird of Paradise,
differing most remarkably from every other known bird.”

As a taxonomist my argument is that while Ali collected the first specimen
he did not know it was a species new to Western taxonomy. We are talking
about species new to SCIENCE, not simply new to Ali. Unlike Wallace, Ali
was illiterate and was not a biologist/taxonomist. Wallace, however, thanks
to his in-depth knowledge of the birds of the region, immediately
recognised that it was a new species. He excitedly wrote to his agent
Stevens:

"...I believe I have already the finest & most wonderful bird in the island
[Bacan, Indonesia]. I had a good mind to keep it a secret but I cannot
resist telling you, I have got here a new Bird of Paradise!! of a new
genus!!! quite unlike anything yet known, very curious & very handsome!!!
When I can get a couple of pairs I will send them overland to see what a
new Bird of Paradise will really fetch. I expect £25 each! Had I seen the
bird in Ternate I would never have believed it came from here, so far out
of the hitherto supposed region of the Paradiseidae. I consider it the
greatest discovery I have yet made..." (Wallace, 1858)

So Wallace clearly thought HE had discovered it.

The species was named in Wallace’s honour by Gray in 1859 -
http://wallace-online.org/content/frameset?pageseq=1&itemID=WSPEC017&viewtype=text
based on a sketch which Wallace had sent.

So my argument is that simply collecting a new species does not mean you
discovered it – even if it is new to you personally. The discoverer is the
person who realises it is a species not yet named by taxonomists. What do
you think?

Incidentally, I note that none of 10 randomly selected species of
cockroaches described in the last 10 years were named after the collectors
of the holotypes of these species. Their names were, however, mentioned in
the species descriptions, so they were credited for their efforts. Perhaps,
however, some taxonomists do regularly name species after their collectors?
Does anyone know whether this practice is commonly followed by taxonomists
of particular groups?

Thanks!

George Beccaloni