As a collector who has tried to follow up on Dr. Petuch's "new species" (the
living ones at least), I can tell you firsthand, Andrew is right on the
money!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew K. Rindsberg" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2000 7:06 AM
Subject: Re: Plio-Pleistocene of southern Florida


> An anonymous person at BARBARA AIGE AIGEN [[log in to unmask]] writes:
> " Overall I feel that Petuch made a very valuable addition to our
> understanding of the Florida Plio-Pleistocene, and that the fossils he
> named must be taken seriously and not dismissed without the sort of
> studies that his detractors wanted him to do."
>
> That is exactly the problem. Sloppy work takes more time to critique than
it
> is worth. Whether the species and subspecies exist is really not the point
> here. The fact is that many of these new taxa are unrecognizable and
> unlocatable. Evaluating such work puts such a huge burden on later
> researchers (and on private collectors, too!) that many people now prefer
to
> work elsewhere rather than deal with the mess. Life is too short to spend
> measuring other people's shells for them.
>
> People who aren't willing to spend the time for adequate taxonomy and
> stratigraphy should not expect praise for their work!
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
>