RoseSea asked: <who decides a "new" species or genus or whatever is
truly new and is validly added to the list of inhabitants of this earth.
Is it a whim?>
Well, sometimes it certainly seems like a whim, in retrospect - when
one contemplates the lenghtĄ list of synonyms for species such as Conus
mediterraneous Hwass for example, there does seem to be more than a
little "wishful thinking" involved!! (a synonym, by the way, is just a
name which someone proposed for a species which proved on second look,
to be a previously-named species: so each time someone describes a
species which already HAS a valid scientific name, a synonym for that
species is born!). However, there is a well-defined process for
describing new species: ***could someone who has actually completed the
process themselves perhaps give a summary?***
As far as who decides whether a proposed species (or other taxa, such
as a new genus or family) is "valid" or not, this is a process of
scientific consensus: when something is published in the scientific
literature, it is up to the peers of the author to figure out whether or
not his or her proposals are "valid": usually, given the rigorous
process of review in most journals (which is partly why people such as
Emanuel Velekovski (sp?) and Von Daniken usually write books instead!!),
there is at least SOME validity to most proposals these days, but it is
up to the scientific community as a whole to decide just how much:
sometimes the debate goes on for years, especially in taxonomy
(Pectinidae is a first-class example of this!!!). However, with
proposed species, once someone well-known has either confirmed or added
to the first author's work, or presented evidence that they should be
lumped together with a previously-described species (ie, placed in
synonomy), the matter is usually fairly "settled", and the "new" species
is either accepted or rejected by most (with notable exeptions, of course!!).
--
Ross Mayhew: Schooner Specimen Shells:
Http://www.schnr-specimen-shells.com
"We Specialize in the Unusual"
Phone: (902) 876-2241; Fax: (603) 909-8552.
But try to find "something for Everyone"!!
Snail Mail: 349 Herring Cove Rd, P.O Box 20005, Halifax, N.S., Canada,
B3R 2K9.
|
