[Taxacom] Who should get the kudos?

Thu Jan 3 11:45:53 CST 2019

If a collector says he thinks it is different and they are known for knowledge of the local fauna or flora, I would favor giving him credit. It costs nothing to the person who describes it but might mean a lot to the collector.  New to science, yes, that is why the person would not get authorship of the paper (at least, not sole authorship).  To me saying "yes but the collector did not know it was new to science" is being picky and unreasonable. 
Mary

-----Original Message-----
From: Taxacom <taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu> On Behalf Of blaberus1
Sent: Thursday, January 3, 2019 10:40 AM
To: John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com>; Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Who should get the kudos?

Perhaps I could ask: does anyone consider a collector to be the discoverer of a species if the collector did not realise it was new to science? The people I mentioned believe that it was Ali not Wallace who discovered Semioptera wallacii.

Thanks!

George

On Thu, 3 Jan 2019 at 16:29, John Grehan <calabar.john at gmail.com> wrote:

> George,
>
> In my experience for the group of my study species have sometimes been 
> named for the collector, sometimes not. Seems to be a discretionary choice.
> There seems to be no necessity for the Semioptera to have been named 
> after the collection. For the new species for which I have been 
> involved with none of the collectors who brought material to the 
> attention of myself or colleagues 'knew' in advance that they had a 
> new species. I have found new species in other groups and it would be 
> absurd to expect that the species should necessarily be named after me 
> just because I found the specimens. I think your critics are 
> unfamiliar with normal taxonomic practice. I'll be interested to what others on the list with broader experience have to say.
>
> John Grehan
>
> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 11:18 AM blaberus1 <g.beccaloni at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> 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
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