A partial but radical solution to the problem of nomenclatural taxonomic inflation and synonymy load

Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

Volumn 93, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 857-863

  Dubois, Alain ^a  

^a MUSÉUM NATIONAL D'HISTOIRE NATURELLE   (France)

Author keywords

Author; Date; Nomenclature; Nominal complex; Scientific name

Indexed keywords

DATE (TIME); NEW TAXON; NOMENCLATURE; TAXONOMY; ZOOLOGY;

EID: 40749138626     PISSN: 00244066     EISSN: 10958312     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00900.x     Document Type: Article

References (39)

1. Alroy J. 2003. Taxonomic inflation and body mass distributions in North American fossil mammals. Journal of Mammology 84 : 431 443.
2. Anonymous [International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature]. 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th edn. London : International Trust for zoological Nomenclature.
3. Bruun AF. 1950. The Systema Naturae of the twentieth century. Science 112 : 342 343.
4. Claridge MF, Dawah HA, Wilson MR, eds. 1997. Species, the units of biodiversity. London : Chapman & Hall.
5. De Carvalho MR, Bockmann FA, Amorim DS, de Vivo M, de Toledo-Piza M, Menezes NA, de Figueiredo JL, Castro RMC, Gill AC, McEachran JD, Compagno LJV, Schelly RC, Britz R, Lundberg JG, Vari RP, Nelson G. 2005. Revisiting the taxonomic impediment. Science 307 : 353.
6. Dubois A. 1977. Les problèmes de l'espèce chez les Amphibiens Anoures. Mémoires de la Société zoologique de France 39 : 161 284.
7. Dubois A. 1998. Lists of European species of amphibians and reptiles: will we soon be reaching 'stability'? Amphibia-Reptilia 19 : 1 28.
8. Dubois A. 1999. Miscellanea nomenclatorica batrachologica. 19. Notes on the nomenclature of Ranidae and related groups. Alytes 17 : 81 100.
9. Dubois A. 2000. Synonymies and related lists in zoology: general proposals, with examples in herpetology. Dumerilia 4 : 33 98.
10. Dubois A. 2003. The relationships between taxonomy and conservation biology in the century of extinctions. Comptes Rendus Biologies 326 (Suppl. 1 S9 S21.
11. Dubois A. 2005. Proposed Rules for the incorporation of nomina of higher-ranked zoological taxa in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. 1. Some general questions, concepts and terms of biological nomenclature. Zoosystema 27 : 365 426.
12. Dubois A. 2007. Phylogeny, taxonomy and nomenclature: the problem of taxonomic categories and of nomenclatural ranks. Zootaxa 1519 : 27 68.
13. Dubois A, Ohler A. 1995. Frogs of the subgenus Pelophylax (Amphibia, Anura, genus Rana): a catalogue of available and valid scientific names, with comments on name-bearing types, complete synonymies, proposed common names, and maps showing all type localities. Zoologica polonica '1994' 39 : 139 204.
14. Frazer DJ, Bernetchez L. 2001. Adaptive evolutionary conservation: towards a unified concept for defining conservation units. Molecular Ecology 10 : 2741 2752.
15. Frost DR, Grant T, Faivovich J, Bazin RH, Haas A, Haddad CFB, de Sá RO, Channing A, Wilkinson M, Donnellan SC, Raxworthy CJ, Campbell JA, Blotto BL, Moler P, Drewes RC, Nussbaum RA, Lynch JD, Green DM, Wheeler WC. 2006. The amphibian tree of life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 297 : 1 370.
16. Groombridge B, ed. 1992. Global biodiversity: status of the earth living ressources. London : Chapman & Hall.
17. Hey JO. 2006. On the failure of modern species concepts. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21 : 447 450.
18. Heywood VH, Watson RT, eds. 1995. Global biodiversity assessment. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
19. Isaac NJB, Mallet J, Mace GM. 2004. Taxonomic inflation: its influence on macroecology and conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 19 : 464 469.
20. Köhler J, Vieites DR, Bonett RM, Hita García F, Glaw F, Steinke D, Vences M. 2005. New amphibians and global conservation: a boost in species discoveries in a highly endangered vertebrate group. Bioscience 55 : 693 696.
21. Laurin M, Cantino PD. 2006. Second meeting of the International Society for Phylogenetic Nomenclature: a report. Zoologia scripta '2007' 36 : 109 117.
22. Mayr E, Ashlock PD. 1991. Principles of systematic zoology, 2nd edn. New York, NY : McGraw-Hill.
23. Melville RV. 1995. Towards stability in the names of animals. London : International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature.
24. Minelli A. 2000. The ranks and the names of species and higher taxa, or a dangerous inertia of the language of natural history. In : Ghiselin MT, Leviton AE, eds. Cultures and institutions of natural history: essays in the history and philosophy of sciences. San Francisco, CA : California Academy of Sciences, 339 351.
25. Moritz C. 1994. Defining 'evolutionary significant units' for conservation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9 : 373 375.
26. Ng PKL. 1994. The citation of species names and the role of the author's name. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 42 : 509 513.
27. Ohler A. 2007. New synonyms in specific names of frogs (Raninae) from the border regions between China, Laos and Vietnam. Alytes 25 : 55 74.
28. Ota H, Matsui M. 2002. On the authorship of Babina (Amphibia: Ranidae). Current Herpetology 21 : 51 53.
29. Padial JM, De la Riva I. 2006. Taxonomic inflation and the stability of species lists: the perils of Ostrich's behavior. Systematic Biology 55 : 859 867.
30. Patterson DJ. 1999. The diversity of eucaryotes. American Naturalist 154 : S96 S124.
31. Pillon Y, Chase MW. 2006. Taxonomic exaggeration and its effects on orchid conservation. Conservation Biology 21 : 263 265.
32. Pleijel F, Rouse GW. 2000. Least-inclusive taxonomic unit: a new taxonomic concept for biology. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 267 : 627 630.
33. Polaszek A, Wilson EO. 2005. Sense and stability in animal names. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 20 : 421 422.
34. Reaka-Kudla ML, Wilson DE, Wilson EO, eds. 1997. Biodiversity II. Washington, DC : Joseph Henry Press.
35. Stork NE. 1997. Measuring global biodiversity and its decline. In : Reaka-Kudla M, Wilson DE, Wilson EO, eds. Biodiversity II. Washington, DC : Joseph Henry Press, 41 68.
36. Wheeler QD, Meier R, eds. 2000. Species concepts and phylogenetic theory. New York, NY : Columbia University Press.
37. Wheeler QD, Raven PH, Wilson EO. 2004. Taxonomy: impediment or expedient? Science 303 : 285.
38. Wilson EO. 2004. Taxonomy as a fundamental discipline. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences 359 : 739.
39. Zhang ZQ. 2006. The making of a mega-journal in taxonomy. Zootaxa 1385 : 67 68.