Hi Linda and everyone,

There is nothing at all wrong with people keeping paratypes in their
own collections. Remember that there is no limit on the number of
paratypes you can select in an original description, so if you want to
reward the people who got you the shell, your accountant, travel agent,
whoever, then by all means add another paratype to the type series and
give it to them. The more paratypes there are, the more material exists
that can (usually) be used to identify that species by direct
comparison.
Holotypes are another matter. The ICZN only 'recommends' that holotypes
be placed in a suitable museum or other institution, so there is
technically no bar to keeping them yourself or selling them. In the old
days, indeed, dealers like Sowerby and Fulton used to sell primary types
(syntypes, mainly) and mark them as such too, to put up the price. In
those days, on the other hand, women couldn't vote, tigers were shot by
the hundreds for fun and orphaned children were sent to factories at age
eight, so just because something has been done in the past does not mean
we should still be doing it now.
The main reason for urging anyone who describes a new species to place
the holotype in a publicly-run institution is the hope that its
whereabouts will thus still be known in a hundred years' time. Some
little private museums keep collections of primary types, and to be fair
some of them do as good a job of preserving them and making them
available as any larger institution. Very few small private museums last
beyond the lifetime of their founders, however. Then there are certain
other private museums that are run by people with as scanty a knowledge
of - and regard for - the conventions of science as some of the
contributors to this forum. Sadly, these are usually the hardest people
to persuade that they are doing anything wrong, and the first to take
such suggestions personally.
I 'recommend' to my small son that he not swear, not pick his nose
where anyone can see and give up his seat on the bus to someone who is
old and frail. I can't make him do it, but I know what people will think
of him if he ignores these recommendations.

PC.


Paul Callomon
Collections Manager
Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
Department of Malacology
Academy of Natural Sciences
1900 Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
Tel 215-405-5096
Fax 215-299-1170
Secretary, American Malacological Society
On the web at www.malacological.org

>>> Linda Bush <[log in to unmask]> 6/1/2007 1:25 PM >>>
Hi, Everyone!

Why should I give up my paratype of a recently named species, when the
person who gave/sold them to the dealer was the museum professional who
described the species?

Oh, for those of you who inquired about the collection for sale here in
St. Louis - we still do not have an appraisal of it, but the appraiser
is back in town, so he will eventually get around to it.

Cheers,
Linda

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