Taxacom: Mandatory ending correction after 226 years of wrong usage - the Dasytes case

Wed Jan 29 15:05:15 CST 2025

The species names which are clearly adjectives and not possibly nouns will
need to be changed. According to the Code, grammatical agreement supersedes
prevailing usage or tradition. It may take some years for people to
recognize the change and go with it, but it is significantly easier to
update online taxonomies now than it has been in the past, so the risk to
stability in the long run is low, in my opinion.

The same applies to any genus ending in -dasytes, like Eudasytes, which is
mentioned in the linked article. That article is behind a Paywall, so I did
not look at it directly.

Recognizing the gender of a genus name has been used incorrectly is not a
First Revisor action, however - that's only for choosing one spelling when
two are given in an original description.

R

On Thu, Jan 30, 2025 at 9:47 AM Francisco Welter-Schultes via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> Dasytes is a very important genus, and all the most important European
> species in it are adjectival and will have to change their endings.
> Congratulations for this extremely useful discovery.
>
> Francisco
>
> Am 29.01.2025 um 21:20 schrieb Beach, James H. via Taxacom:
> > Sent on behalf of the sender below.
> >
> > ________________________________
> > From: Isidor Plonski <isidor.plonski at gmx.at>
> >
> > Dear Taxacomers,
> >
> > There is a genus name derived from Old Greek which was introduced in
> 1799, and its author considered it masculine in grammatical gender,
> evidenced in the fact that the author transferred three species to his
> taxon and changed the epithets from feminine to masculine endings. And that
> was the prevailing usage for 226 years. Until now: Recently, it was
> discovered that the Old Greek word used as genus name is feminine in
> grammatical gender. Thus, a change is mandatory according to the Code - the
> parts of a binomen must agree in grammatical gender. But what about the 226
> years of "tradition" - can we simply ignore it? What is nomenclatural
> stability in this case? I'm asking because I fear that there will be coming
> a phase of both correct and continuous wrong usage: We experts can
> propagate the news, write correct ID labels and publish with the correct
> endings. But most users will stick to the "tradition", because they use
> outdated works and do not often consult the experts. Unless the change
> makes it into the databanks online, which will be checked hopefully.
> >
> > The genus in question is Dasytes PAYKULL, 1799 (
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fpage%2F51561155&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4b1cc7ee163d451814e208dd40a8a874%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737817207955729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=RO%2FPWunk%2FYJYrKO9Ig%2BNHX%2FgN4jf%2FK%2F7PNDd0Hr4Tv4%3D&reserved=0<
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biodiversitylibrary.org%2Fpage%2F51561155&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4b1cc7ee163d451814e208dd40a8a874%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737817207968204%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=2%2FQt4pzjSZlxWzeCwF75MkpifvsGMcTPgaGEcl4OVYg%3D&reserved=0>).
> >
> > The name is derived from οΏ½οΏ½οΏ½οΏ½οΏ½οΏ½οΏ½
> >
> > First reviser action / mandatory ending correction in:
> > Matthew L. Gimmel & Adriean J. Mayor "Taxonomic Overview of World
> Dasytinae (Coleoptera: Melyridae), with Emphasis on the North American
> Fauna of the Subfamily and Two Newly Established Tribes," The Coleopterists
> Bulletin 78(4), 499-536, (6 December 2024).
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1649%2F0010-065X-78.4.499&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4b1cc7ee163d451814e208dd40a8a874%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737817207976176%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=hLfiK940SZ4KbsxHXP3uu0zzt1xQ2xT7XPF62mp%2BX%2FY%3D&reserved=0<
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdoi.org%2F10.1649%2F0010-065X-78.4.499&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4b1cc7ee163d451814e208dd40a8a874%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737817207984096%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sEopKtxJozMRDUOK1PMQLuKJvPtXKQ%2BskZPly4vNW3E%3D&reserved=0>
> >
> > Your thoughts or comments on this case are welcomed!
> >
> > Yours sincerely,
> > Isidor Plonski
> > _______________________________________________
> > Taxacom Mailing List
> >
> > Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for 38 years, 1987-2025.
> >
> > Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> > For list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> https://lists.ku.edu/listinfo/taxacom
> > You can reach the person managing the list at:
> taxacom-owner at lists.ku.edu
> >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom Mailing List
>
> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity for 38 years, 1987-2025.
>
> Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> For list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> https://lists.ku.edu/listinfo/taxacom
> You can reach the person managing the list at: taxacom-owner at lists.ku.edu
>
>
>

-- 
Richard Littauer | burntfen.com <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.burntfen.com%2F&data=05%7C02%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4b1cc7ee163d451814e208dd40a8a874%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638737817207991846%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C80000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=%2FLeKamAJUkZ7vv4yy%2BGzcfqdAPHDOlqrLm7u9UvQDeI%3D&reserved=0> | socials:
richard.social