> ----------
> From:         Andrew K.
> Rindsberg[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent:         maandag 2 november 1998 16:18
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: How many species? - the REAL answer!
>
> Kurt Auffenberg writes,
> "Let's back the truck up a little.  Although the Compendium of Land shells
> by Tucker Abbott is very useful for the collector and professional alike,
> it is by no means a checklist of the land snails of the world.  I assume
> this is the reference referred to by Andrew Rindsberg.  It only
> illustrates
> a very small fraction of the known fauna, gives an adequate bibliography
> and is riddled with errors (through no fault of Tucker's.  It's just the
> nature of the beast . . . publishing a book is Hell, publishing a book on
> a
> confusing group is a bigger Hell).  There is no checklist of the land
> snails of the world, but there are several good people out there putting
> together pieces of the puzzle."
>
> Oops. Sorry to get folks excited about this. Mea culpa! I dashed that one
> off without checking references first.
>
> Incidentally, I forgot to mention one of the best sources of information
> for compiling master lists of species: monographs of whole families. The
> authors tend to aim for completeness, and winnow out synonyms. Of course,
> the work can never be finished.
>
> Gary Rosenberg tells us that more than 20,000 molluscan species have been
> named in the past 20 years, showing that anyone who wants a complete
> collection would have to acquire species at the rate of 3 or so every day.
> It would be a major task just to acquire all of the literature containing
> new descriptions, let alone specimens, even if they were available.
> Clearly, nature has a few surprises still to spring on us.
>
> He also stated that the Zoological Record won't do our work for us. Well,
> before anyone (like Sylvia Edwards) makes plans to do the job by teamwork,
> what other large lists of molluscan taxa, published or unpublished, are
> available? And when an author plans a monograph of a whole family, how do
> you make sure your list of species is complete? (No, me buckos, I am NOT
> volunteering! I am already heavily engaged in compiling a complete list of
> trace-fossil taxa, with collaborator Alfred Uchman. I'll be glad to cheer
> you on, however.)
>
> Thanks for the corrections.
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
> Geological Survey of Alabama
>
> Visit the site of G. Poppe, he has an (incomplete) list of recent marine
> species. This list is a good start. But it will become a list of names,
> not of species, fot there ara always taxanomic propblems in such a list.
> Martin Cadee, Leiden, The Netherlands
>