Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

Luis M. P. Ceríaco; Eliécer E. Gutiérrez; Alain Dubois; Cristian Simon Abdala; Abdulaziz S. Alqarni; Kraig Adler; Edson A. Adriano; Erna Aescht; Ishan Agarwal; Sabine Agatha; Donat Agosti; Antonio J.C. Aguiar; Jonas José Mendes Aguiar; Dirk Ahrens; Alexandre Aleixo; Maria Judite Alves; Fabio Raposo Do Amaral; Natalia Ananjeva; Marcelo C. Andrade; Marco Brandalise de Andrade; Franco Andreone; Pedro P.U. Aquino; Paula Beatriz Araujo; Henrard Arnaud; Jairo Arroyave; Wolfgang Arthofer; Tom J. Artois; Diego Astua; Celso Azevedo; Justin C. Bagley; Diego Baldo; Helen Margaret Barber-James; Eva V. Bärmann; Cristiane Bastos-Silveira; Michael F. Bates; Aaron M. Bauer; Franziska Bauer; Ricardo C. Benine; Daniel J. Bennett; Bastian Bentlage; Björn Berning; Daizy Bharti; Cibele Biondo; José Birindelli; Theo Blick; Giovanni Boano; Flávio A. Bockmann; Wieslaw Bogdanowicz; Wolfgang Böhme; Enrico Borgo; Leo Borkin; Marcos Ricardo; Roger Bour; William R. Branch; Cinthia A. Brasileiro; Janet K. Braun; Gustavo A. Bravo; Luc Brendonck; Guilherme R. R. Brito; Marcelo R. Britto; Paulo A. Buckup; Daniel Burckhardt; Ulrich Burkhardt; Stephen D. Busack; Luiz A. Campos; Alain Canard; Eliana M. Cancello; Ulisses Caramaschi; James M. Carpenter; Martin Carr; Renan Carrenho; Alexandra Cartaxana; Mariom A. Carvajal; Gervásio Silva Carvalho; Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho; Amira Chaabane; Cinthia Chagas; Prosanta Chakrabarty; Kailas Chandra; Stylianos Chatzimanolis; Stephen W. Chordas Iii; Alexandre U. Christoff; Fabio Cianferoni; Santiago Claramunt; Dan Cogãlniceanu; Bruce B. Collette; Guarino R. Colli; Timothy J. Colston; Werner Conradie; Jérôme Constant; Reginaldo Constantino; Joseph A. Cook; Danilo Cordeiro; Alexandra Marçal Correia; Fenton P.D. Cotterill; Brandi Coyner; Mario A. Cozzuol; Joël Cracraft; Angelica Crottini; Giulio Cuccodoro; Jean Yves Rasplus

doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4196.3.9

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Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

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Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences

Luis M. P. Ceríaco, Eliécer E. Gutiérrez, Alain Dubois, Cristian Simon Abdala, Abdulaziz S. Alqarni, Kraig Adler, Edson A. Adriano, Erna Aescht, Ishan Agarwal, Sabine Agatha, …

Zootaxa, Vol.4196(3), pp.435-445

2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4196.3.9

Abstract

The question whether taxonomic descriptions naming new animal species without type specimen(s) deposited in collections should be accepted for publication by scientific journals and allowed by the Code has already been discussed in Zootaxa (Dubois & Nemésio 2007; Donegan 2008, 2009; Nemésio 2009a–b; Dubois 2009; Gentile & Snell 2009; Minelli 2009; Cianferoni & Bartolozzi 2016; Amorim et al. 2016). This question was again raised in a letter supported by 35 signatories published in the journal Nature (Pape et al. 2016) on 15 September 2016. On 25 September 2016, the following rebuttal (strictly limited to 300 words as per the editorial rules of Nature) was submitted to Nature, which on 18 October 2016 refused to publish it. As we think this problem is a very important one for zoological taxonomy, this text is published here exactly as submitted to Nature, followed by the list of the 493 taxonomists and collection-based researchers who signed it in the short time span from 20 September to 6 October 2016.

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Title: Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences
Creators - without role: Luis M. P. Ceríaco - Centro Interuniversitário de História das Ciências e da Tecnologia
Eliécer E. Gutiérrez - Instituto Biológico
Alain Dubois - Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité
Cristian Simon Abdala - National University of Tucumán
Abdulaziz S. Alqarni - King Saud University
Kraig Adler - Cornell University
Edson A. Adriano - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Erna Aescht - Austrian Museum
Ishan Agarwal - Villanova University
Sabine Agatha - University of Salzburg
Donat Agosti - Plazi Verein
Antonio J.C. Aguiar - Universidade de Brasília
Jonas José Mendes Aguiar - Universidade Cidade de São Paulo
Dirk Ahrens - Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig
Alexandre Aleixo - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
Maria Judite Alves - Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Fabio Raposo Do Amaral - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Natalia Ananjeva - Russian Academy of Sciences
Marcelo C. Andrade - Universidade Federal do Pará
Marco Brandalise de Andrade - University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College
Franco Andreone - Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali
Pedro P.U. Aquino - Universidade de Brasília
Paula Beatriz Araujo - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Henrard Arnaud - Royal Museum for Central Africa
Jairo Arroyave - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Wolfgang Arthofer - Institute of Ecology
Tom J. Artois - Hasselt University
Diego Astua - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco
Celso Azevedo - Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Justin C. Bagley - Universidade de Brasília
Diego Baldo - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
Helen Margaret Barber-James - Albany Museum
Eva V. Bärmann - Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira - Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Michael F. Bates - Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
Aaron M. Bauer - Villanova University
Franziska Bauer - Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen
Ricardo C. Benine - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Daniel J. Bennett - Stephen F. Austin State University
Bastian Bentlage - Smithsonian Institution
Björn Berning - Tyrolean State Museum
Daizy Bharti - Università di Camerino
Cibele Biondo - Universidade Federal do ABC
José Birindelli - Universidade Estadual de Londrina
Theo Blick - Senckenberg Research Institute
Giovanni Boano - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
Flávio A. Bockmann - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Wieslaw Bogdanowicz - Museum and Institute of Zoology
Wolfgang Böhme - Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig
Enrico Borgo - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
Leo Borkin - Russian Academy of Sciences
Marcos Ricardo - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Roger Bour - Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité
William R. Branch - Bayworld Centre for Research and Education
Cinthia A. Brasileiro - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Janet K. Braun - Noble Research Institute
Gustavo A. Bravo - Harvard University Press
Luc Brendonck - North-West University
Guilherme R. R. Brito - Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
Marcelo R. Britto - Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
Paulo A. Buckup - Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
Daniel Burckhardt - Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
Ulrich Burkhardt - Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt/M
Stephen D. Busack - North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Luiz A. Campos - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Alain Canard - Université de Rennes
Eliana M. Cancello - Museu de Zoologia
Ulisses Caramaschi - Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
James M. Carpenter - American Museum of Natural History
Martin Carr - University of Huddersfield
Renan Carrenho - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Alexandra Cartaxana - Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Mariom A. Carvajal - North Dakota State University
Gervásio Silva Carvalho - Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho - Universidade Federal de São Paulo
Amira Chaabane - University of Sfax
Cinthia Chagas - Federal Police of Brazil
Prosanta Chakrabarty - Houston Museum of Natural Science
Kailas Chandra - Zoological Survey of India
Stylianos Chatzimanolis - University of Tennessee System
Stephen W. Chordas Iii - The Ohio State University
Alexandre U. Christoff - Natura
Fabio Cianferoni - Museo Galileo
Santiago Claramunt - American Museum of Natural History
Dan Cogãlniceanu - Ovidius University
Bruce B. Collette - Rijksmuseum
Guarino R. Colli - Universidade de Brasília
Timothy J. Colston - University of Mississippi
Werner Conradie - Bayworld Centre for Research and Education
Jérôme Constant - Institute of Natural Sciences
Reginaldo Constantino - Universidade de Brasília
Joseph A. Cook - University of New Mexico
Danilo Cordeiro - National Institute of Amazonian Research
Alexandra Marçal Correia - Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência
Fenton P.D. Cotterill - Stellenbosch University
Brandi Coyner - Noble Research Institute
Mario A. Cozzuol - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Joël Cracraft - American Museum of Natural History
Angelica Crottini - Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos
Giulio Cuccodoro - Natural History Museum of Geneva
Jean Yves Rasplus - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations
Publication Details: Zootaxa, Vol.4196(3), pp.435-445
Identifiers: 9964022709311
Academic Unit: Université de Montpellier
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article
Local Fields: hal-01608521