I suppose that the best way to bring to the public's attention the great
number of variations of so many lineages is to use sp. A, sp. B and sp.
cf oldname, and then do the detailed work necessary on one of these
lineages.  But just like professionals don't want to do the work on an
already named fauna, Petuch apparently wanted credit for discovering all
these neat new forms.  Of course the blame for doing inadequate work is
his too.  The non-professionals, looking for handles to sort their many,
varied shells, appreciate the many new names.  When they find that a
mistake has been made, they should try to document the fact, and help
future workers who get stuck with the mess have an easier time.  Us
non-professionals can make  important contributions while avoiding the
problem of naming new species inadequately.

 I am currently trying to get a paper on a Sinistrofulger species of
Petuch published (in COA) clarifying the nature of the species.  The
article explains Petuch's systematics and stratigraphy and better
describes the species, but does not come to any hard systematic
conclusions.  Writing is hard work, but if it gets in print, it should be
worth it.

Perhaps other people will be willing to make similar contributions, and
help collectors and professionals alike.

Allen Aigen (I'm the accidentally anonymous author of the E-mail on
Petuch's Plio-Pleistocene work.)
[log in to unmask]


On Fri, 7 Jul 2000 12:04:04 -0400 David Campbell <[log in to unmask]>
writes:
> The difficulty of identifying species in this interval and region is
> exacerbated by the high variability in many lineages.  Both
> sinistral
> Busycon and Conus appear in this interval.  Several species show odd
> variation in Virginia during this time, and the number of variable
> forms
> increases as you go south through the Carolinas into Florida.  For
> example,
> Mercenaria has the full range of variability in Virginia
> (tridacnoides
> form, etc.).  Glycymeris americana occasionally has the
> quinquerugata form
> in Virginia and very rarely abberrans.  These are more common
> further
> south.  Chesapecten septenarius is uniform in Virginia, but has wild
> variation in rib number in the lower Pliocene of South Carolina,
> along with
> high variability in Nodipecten peedeensis, not found to the north.
> The
> Macrocallista albaria/reposta/greeni/nimbosa lineage seems to
> gradually
> evolve in the Carolinas and Virginia, but shows wide variation in
> Florida,
> as does Siphocypraea.  Thus, the Floridian faunas have an extremely
> high
> variability.  Naming forms without consideration of a large suite of
> specimens is especially doubtful under these circumstances.
>
>
> Dr. David Campbell
> "Old Seashells"
> Department of Geological Sciences
> CB 3315 Mitchell Hall
> University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
> Chapel Hill NC 27599-3315 USA
> [log in to unmask], 919-962-0685, FAX 919-966-4519
>
> "He had discovered an unknown bivalve, forming a new genus"-E. A.
> Poe, The
> Gold Bug