Hi Sheila and/or Guido,

Although as an ideal it may be commendable for shell dealers to bring the
"latest evolution of science" into the collections of today as you suggest,
I suspect this is impractical for most dealers.

Why?  The "primary tendency" of science is not always clear.  In the case of
genera, different authorities (authors, professional malacologists, etc.)
sometimes have competing positions on how to use generic names.  Sorting
through the literature to determine where the preponderance of evidence
points is not always easy or practical for dealers (or their customers -
collectors).  This has been made even harder by the increasing citation of
DNA evidence, anatomy and other criteria as justification for revision of
generic names established for a long time.  Which proposals for genera will
turn out to be supported by future research, and which will be abandoned?
Even the scientists do not know.  Most dealers really do not have the
training (nor should they) to effectively evaluate competing proposals by
the scientific community.

Popular authors usually do their best to pick one generic framework to
support and use it in their works.  They rarely present detailed, objective
justification for using it, though.  In most cases the work of others is
simply cited under the assumption that the reader has access to this
material and can interpret it.  In some cases, like with the Cypraeidae,
there have been multiple contradictory opinions about both the use of
generic and species names in the popular literature.  Many of these opinions
are not supported, or not supported well enough to be accepted universally.

The folks at Femorale cite the reference they used to identify the shell on
each of their labels.  This is much better than the norm for dealers who
usually just name the shell and provide basic collection data received from
their supplier.  Based on my own observations, they do not flinch from hard
work when it comes to ensuring accuracy of their data slips.  If it were
otherwise, I would say so.

Most dealers use the popular literature to identify shells because this is
what most of their customers have access to and use.  It would probably be
better to call on authors of popular works to more thoroughly explain the
scientific literature so there is a better foundation for the guides to
genera used by most suppliers, dealers, collectors, etc.  If the authors did
more to explain the reasoning behind their usage of names, and the
scientific community supported this effort, it might reduce the number of
contradictions in popular works.

Regards,

Bill

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sheila Tagaro" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 29, 2009 11:24 PM
Subject: [CONCH-L] Genera in shells


> Hello all enthusiasts,
>
> This short email on the genus question. About all has been said by
> Paul Callomon, I fully agree with his well written text.
>
> However, I want to comment on the email of Marcus from Femorale. I
> frankly think that Femorale is one of the better shell dealers – and
> even in competition with Conchology, Inc. I highly appreciate their
> effort and the way they handle and label shells.
>
> But, just as Conchology, Inc., Femorale has a responsibility to bring
> the latest evolution of science into the collections of today. The
> present tendency, as science goes, is to use generic names when well
> established and accepted  by science, as is actually the case in
> Cypraeidae.
>
> I know that constant updating with the rate of publications from now
> is a heavy job, as well for the collectors as for the dealers. And
> even with all the people we have, it is impossible to do it perfectly.
> The appearance of a book such as the Ovulidae by Lorenz & Fehse takes
> several days of updating existing databases, a book such as Mikkelsen
> & Bieler on the bivalves takes a week with several persons.
>
> But it’s also fun and very “learning”. The present system of science
> also pushes scientists to make “points” and occasionally leads to
> excessive splitting. As collectors and shell enthusiasts we are the
> first public of scientists, to us is also the task to form opinions
> and express our agreement or disagreements…
>
>
>
> Best regards, Guido
>
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