[Zoobank-list] Re: [iczn-list] Re: Homo sapiens lectotype

[Jim Mallet]

Dear All,

I thought I would write to Carol Yoon, author of the offending NYT article, 
to gently tell her off about her "mistake".  It seems that she has 
excellent evidence for the Linnaeus-as-type point of view: a TAXACOM 
discussion dated 1996 that involves the same Gary Rosenberg who posted 
yesterday!  That post also mentions that a certain Spamer (who crops up in 
Geoff Read's and Martin Spies' recent postings) put the matter to rest once 
and for all  -- but of course, we now know that it popped up again, and 
probably will once every 10 years or so!

Really, if we can't get this species' type designation sorted out, is there 
any hope for the other 3+ million names?  At least it's a good 
demonstration of the need for a central database for each name, as a 
single-stop shop for this kind of query!  And this is quite independent of 
the mandatory registration question.

All the best, Jim

>From: Carol Kaesuk Yoon <cky at cnw.com>
>Subject: Re: [Zoobank-list] Fwd: NYT: In the Classification 
>Kingdom,    Only the Fittest Survive
>Date: Fri, 14 Oct 2005 08:05:07 -0700
>To: Jim Mallet <j.mallet at ucl.ac.uk>
>
>Dear Jim,
>Thanks for passing that along. I've read this Cope vs. Linnaeus argument 
>before. Apparently (as noted below) it's a source of never ending 
>confusion. But though many people seem to think Cope was designated the 
>type, it seems that, in fact, Stearns designated Linnaeus the type earlier.
>
>Read on from Taxacom:
>
>Date:        Fri, 5 Jan 1996 13:18:21 -0500
>Reply-To:    ROSENBERG at SAY.ACNATSCI.ORG
>Sender:      Biological Systematics Discussion List 
><TAXACOM at CMSA.BERKELEY.EDU>
>From:        Gary Rosenberg <ROSENBERG at SAY.ACNATSCI.ORG>
>Subject:     Re: Type of Homo sapiens
>
>
>The discussion about the type specimen of Linnaeus is a source of
>continuing amazement.  The issue has arisen twice before on
>Taxacom (25 Jan 1995, 23-24 Aug 1995), and both times was put to
>rest by Earle Spamer of my institution.
>
>Spamer noted that W. T. Stearns (1959, Systematic Zoology 8: 4)
>designated Linnaeus as the type of ^Homo sapiens^.  Dr. P. K.
>Tubbs has recently stated that there is no need for a lectotype
>of Homo sapiens, since the identity of the species is obvious.
>Nonetheless, Stearns action stands as a valid lectotype
>designation, as Spamer demonstrated on 24 August, so Linnaeus is
>the lectotype of ^Homo sapiens^, whether or not a lectotype is
>regarded as necessary.
>
>I must also note that Linnaeus's phrase "Homo nosce Te ipsum"
>pertains to the genus Homo, not to the species ^Homo sapiens^
>(see page 20 of ^Systema Naturae^, ed. 10).
>
>Gary Rosenberg
>Academy of Natural Sciences
>1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
>Philadelphia, PA 19103-1195
>rosenberg at say.acnatsci.org
>
>Thanks,
>Carol
>
>
>On Oct 14, 2005, at 12:34 AM, Jim Mallet wrote:
>
>>Carol,
>>
>>Tsk! tsk!
>>
>>I thought you would be interested in this.
>>
>>Jim
>>
>>>Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 16:26:49 -0700
>>>To: "Zoobank Discussion List \(ICZN\)" <zoobank-list at afriherp.org>
>>>From: Doug Yanega <dyanega at ucr.edu>
>>>Subject: Re: [Zoobank-list] Fwd: NYT: In the Classification Kingdom,   Only
>>>         the Fittest Survive
>>>
>>>
>>>As a lighter aside, I noticed the following in the NY Times article Neal 
>>>EVenhuis forwarded a while back:
>>>
>>>>>Not only did Linnaeus shape the naming of life for more than two 
>>>>>centuries, but he also enjoyed perks including crowning himself 
>>>>>"prince of botanists" and reviewing his own work as "a masterpiece 
>>>>>that no one can read too often or admire too much."
>>>>>
>>>>>His glories even include being designated as the so-called 
>>>>>"lectotype," a kind of official scientific specimen to represent, for 
>>>>>science and for all of time, the species Homo sapiens. Not bad for an 
>>>>>old-time flower collector.
>>>
>>>This is not true. Bakker in 1993 designated the skull of E.D. Cope as 
>>>the lectotype specimen for Homo sapiens. The NYT reporter fell prey to 
>>>an urban legend.
>>>
>>>Did the NYT ever publish a correction, I wonder? Maybe more taxonomists 
>>>need to know about Bakker's lectotypification, so the Linnaeus legend 
>>>can be put to rest...
>>>--
>>>
>>>Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
>>>Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521-0314
>>>phone: (951) 827-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>>> 
>>><http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html>http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html 
>>>
>>>   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>>>         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82

James Mallet
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/taxome/jim/
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