>That's not at all what taxonomy is about. It is about real
 >relationships. It doesn't matter one bit how economically important
 >or whatever a species might be; if it eventually is found that it
 >doesn't belong in the genus it's traditionally been placed in, then
 >it MUST be moved. This is objective.

Andrew,
is taxonomy an exact science? I do not think so.
I think the "species" concept was born with mankind not with nature.
We can look for "real relationships", but wouldn't they always be a
subjective matter?
Whatever method you use, wouldn't the discrimination between two different
things be affected by personal thoughts and ideas even if you are the most
honest scientist who tries to be as much objective as you can?
I think we built taxonomy to make our lives easier when we speak about
living beings (and I think Linné and its binomial *universal* nomenclature
are great).
If this is the aim of taxonomy, then sometimes we might be a bit more
conservative and helping people of different generations understand each other.
Regards,
Paolo
Paolo G. ALBANO
Bologna, ITALY
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Homepage: http://members.xoom.virgilio.it/pgalbano/index.htm