<
https://theconversation.com/we-need-a-single-list-of-all-life-on-earth-and-most-taxonomists-now-agree-on-how-to-start-216006>
"Species lists are one of the unseen pillars of science and society. Lists of
species underpin our understanding of the natural world, threatened species
management, quarantine, disease control and much else besides.
The people who describe new species and create lists of them are taxonomists. A
few years ago, a headline in the journal
Nature accused the taxonomic
community of anarchy for not coordinating a common view of species, leading to
confusion about our knowledge of life on earth.
Many in the taxonomic community took umbrage at this. Taxonomists were
concerned that the ideas proposed would limit their freedom of expression and
they would be tied to a bureaucracy before they could publish new species
descriptions.
Taxonomists certainly argue – disputation is essential to the practice of
taxonomy, as it is to science in general. Ultimately, however, a taxonomist’s
life is spent trying to discern order in the extraordinarily diverse tree of
life.
The results of a new survey published today in the
Proceedings of the National
Academies of Science, show just how much taxonomists really do like order."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
