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Taxacom: Response to Rheindt et al. Diagnoses and ICZN

Michael Heads m.j.heads at gmail.com
Wed Oct 18 21:27:42 CDT 2023 

a description is also useful to confirm an ID made with just a diagnosis or
key.

On Thu, Oct 19, 2023 at 3:19 PM Stephen Thorpe via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

>  Francisco,
> You seem to be making the distinction between diagnosis and description in
> a very nonstandard way! I think you may be confusing a description with
> what I would call a treatment. Both are longer than a diagnosis. A
> treatment is a diagnosis and/or description, plus some nomenclatural
> details (such as the name of the taxon, type data, etc.)
> A diagnosis allows the reader to distinguish the species from all other
> *known* species. Suppose the species is the only one with two heads. The
> diagnosis need only mention the two heads. However, down the track, another
> new species might be discovered which also has two heads, but other
> differences. Hence the previous diagnosis fails to distinguish between the
> two two-headed species. That is why we need a longer description, just in
> case another new species is discovered later which also agrees with the
> diagnosis.
> This is all pretty standard stuff, from "Taxonomy 101", I would have
> thought!
>
> Cheers, Stephen
>     On Thursday, 19 October 2023 at 03:03:23 pm NZDT, Francisco
> Welter-Schultes via Taxacom <taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:
>
>  Dear Art,
> It is necessary to distinguish between taxonomy and nomenclature. The
> terms "diagnosis" and "description" have different meanings in the two
> disciplines.
>
> In taxonomy, these are headlines of chapters or paragraphs, but
> apparently the two terms are not used in the same sense in all animal
> groups. This is a question of style. In molluscs a diagnosis is a short
> text, while the description is a long text. In other animal groups this
> may be different.
>
> The Code cannot consider this. The Rheindt et al. paper employed the
> terms for nomenclatural purposes. We have been asking ourselves which
> should be the requirements for the Code. A species diagnosis in this
> sense is one that satisfies the provisions of the Code. A species
> description is a successful proposal of a new name in combination with
> some information that is required for making the name available.
>
> Taxonomists can employ the terms "description" and "diagnosis" in their
> taxonomic studies following the traditions in their animal groups. It is
> no problem to continue in the same frame in the future.
>
> The Code can only require the presence of a text with a certain content,
> and cannot regulate the length and style in which the information is
> presented. In this case, at least one character state to distinguish a
> taxon from a closely related taxon needs to be given. The Code cannot
> regulate in which style this should be satisfied, and cannot regulate
> that a short and a long text need to be provided. This is all up to the
> authors. The Code only requires a minimum frame.
>
> Best wishes
> Francisco
>
>
>
>
>
> -----
> Francisco Welter-Schultes
>
> Am 12.10.2023 um 20:23 schrieb Art Borkent via Taxacom:
> >     I am responding to the recent paper by Rheindt et al on diagnoses
> and proposals for changes to the ICZN.  These are my thoughts:
> >
> >      It is certainly an excellent idea to tighten the definition and
> presentation of diagnoses, as I argued in my 2021 paper “Diagnosing
> diagnoses – can we improve our taxonomy?” in ZooKeys 1071: 43–48. However,
> I think the article “Tightening the requirements for species diagnoses….”
> could be strengthened.
> >
> > It could be made more clear that a diagnosis be separate from a
> description. Descriptions of new species are often lengthy and should
> indeed provide clear and thorough evidence that the newly described species
> is distinctive from all other species; it should include all the evidence
> the species is distinct. Diagnoses should also provide evidence of a
> distinct taxon but be minimalist, a confirmation of an identification by
> others using the work. I am unsure whether this should be a rule or a
> recommendation, but in large measure, those who use our taxonomic work
> generally desire to have a confirmation of an identification after using a
> key (which are often challenging). For those of us who are unfamiliar with
> another group (which includes for me, nearly all the other groups other
> than my own), a direct confirmation by the author(s) would be comforting.
> Failing that (the vast majority of the time), a simple statement “This is
> the only species of genus x with … (a feature or a minimum set of
> features)” would be extremely helpful.  It should provide the answer for
> the reader “Yes, I have correctly identified it or No, I need to go back to
> the key”. This provides the reassurance of correct identification. As the
> situation stands now, most diagnoses (in Diptera at least) are too lengthy
> and ultimately unclear whether all the features need to be checked or not
> (mostly not). I would like to see the ICZN make either a rule about a
> simple, succinct presentation of diagnoses or at least a strong
> recommendation.
> >
> > And this brings up another point. Who is in “our community”? The article
> by Rheindt et al. suggests our cliental are “biologists”. For most
> taxonomists, however, their writing clearly reflects an assumption that the
> reader is intimately familiar with the group.  Especially in a time where
> taxonomy is often seen as irrelevant, authors should be encouraged to
> present diagnoses that can be used by a much broader community of
> scientists and, if we really want to expand the usefulness of our work, of
> interested amateurs.
> >
> > In summary:
> >
> > 1. Make a strong distinction between descriptions and diagnoses.
> >
> > 2. Diagnosis should be simple, short, succinct (see Borkent, 2021).
> >
> > 3. Remind users of ICZN that our community should include even amateurs.
> >
> >  A final, non-related point: the article notes that bar-coded diagnoses
> might state “.. new species differ from all other species of the genus by
> two synapomorphies in the CO1 gene:”  In reality, virtually no presenters
> of barcodes discuss synapomorphies and this would be a new arena for many,
> including developing some skills in cladistic thought and analysis.  That
> would be an excellent idea.
> >
> > Dr. Art Borkent
> > 691-8th Ave. SE,
> > Salmon Arm, British Columbia,
> > V1E 2C2, Canada.
> >
> > Phone: (250) 833-0931
> > Email: artborkent at telus.net
> > Webpage: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fartborkent.com%2F&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd96383d16f944559d12608dbd04b0182%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638332792793325150%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=LeAjJgviiJSW8vk%2FqZH%2BYsLhbZ7aFW23qQNYuYj1MQc%3D&reserved=0
> >
> > Research Associate of the Royal British Columbia Museum and the American
> Museum of Natural History
> >
> >        "Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit"
> >
> >
> >
> >
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> > Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity and admiring alliteration for
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> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity and admiring alliteration for
> about 36 years, 1987-2023.
>
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> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity and admiring alliteration for
> about 36 years, 1987-2023.
>


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*Biogeography and evolution in New Zealand. *Taylor and Francis/CRC, Boca
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*Biogeography of Australasia:  A molecular analysis*. Cambridge University
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*Molecular panbiogeography of the tropics. *University of California Press,
Berkeley. 2012. https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ucpress.edu%2Fbook.php%3Fisbn%3D9780520271968&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7Cd96383d16f944559d12608dbd04b0182%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638332792793325150%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=AxEyCObCRjC1tKChtumWBYRxTstp984Qm1qBzec%2F2vg%3D&reserved=0


*Panbiogeography: Tracking the history of life*. Oxford University Press,
New York. 1999. (With R. Craw and J. Grehan).
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