[Taxacom] Describing taxa for conservation purposes - Scott Thomson's latest attempt to sabotage the ICZN Code for his own self-gratification.

[Douglas Yanega]

Since I have Mr. Hoser on a spam filter, I never see anything he posts 
unless other people rise to his bait, as in this case. I do suggest that 
others consider the benefit of blocking him as I do, it makes for a 
little more peace of mind.

That aside, I do feel that there are two points that require a very 
direct and serious rebuttal:

>> So now his latest plot is to set himself up as head honcho to make
>> "species lists" which everyone else will use and in contempt of the rules
>> of the ICZN.

The ICZN does in fact actively encourage taxonomic specialist 
associations to create official lists that they can then submit to the 
Commission for formal endorsement, under the provisions of Article 79, 
known as the LAN (Lists of Available Names). We would be very happy to 
have the herpetological community submit such a proposal to us, and even 
if they choose not to engage with the Commission, *we support the 
principle* that the community should be able to determine, *by 
consensus*, how they wish to handle matters within their disciplines.

The existence of the Commission is, itself, due to a consensus agreement 
across the entire zoological community, so it would be absurdly 
hypocritical to say that consensus decisions by segments of that 
community are "in contempt of the rules" - consensus is EXACTLY how 
rules are made in the first place. Obviously Mr. Hoser personally 
objects to being on the receiving end of a community boycott, but 
instead of changing his behavior to adhere to the ethical and scientific 
standards of the community, he screams "foul" and just makes things 
worse. This is beyond tiresome.

>> This is extremely dangerous as no budding scientist will want to enter the
>> science of taxonomy, as they risk their life's work being stolen by Thomson
>> and the Wuster gang, who will summarily rename and all sundry in contempt
>> of the rules of the Code and then improperly peddle their names to gullible
>> others.

The only person I know of who has actively stolen (or, rather, attempted 
to steal) the life's work of a budding scientist is Raymond Hoser, who 
seems to have conveniently forgotten who Travis Thomas is. Accusing 
others of the crimes for which one is guilty (i.e., claiming to be the 
victim when one is actually the perpetrator) is one of the oldest, and 
sorriest, tricks in the book, and it seems to be literally the ONLY 
weapon in Mr. Hoser's arsenal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_pot_calling_the_kettle_black

The day that Mr. Hoser makes a *formal public apology* for the 
Macrochelys case - and the many others where he has published 
descriptions pre-emptively (for taxa that other researchers intended to 
name) - is the day I will unblock him from my feed, and start to take 
him seriously. Until that day, it would be fantastic if he would just go 
away, and stay silent, instead of trying to stir up trouble.

There is a very old internet saying (as the internet goes), and it's 
very apropos here:

DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS.

Sincerely,

-- 
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)
              https://faculty.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82