Interesting set of information Pankaj ji Just a minor correction, it was nearly 200 years later (and not 300) that lectype was designated in a casual remark by made by W. T. Stearn in 1959 in a commemerative article on the occasion of the 200th Anniversary of 10th edition of Systema Naturae. He wrote:
*"Since for nomenclatorial purposes the specimen most carefully studied and recorded by the author is to be accepted as the type, clearly Linnaeus himself, who was much addicted to autobiography, must stand as the type of his *Homo sapiens*!"* It must be mentioned that several years later Psihoyos in 1994 designated E. D. Cope, a nineteenth-century naturalist as lectotype of Homo sapiens, and this being a popular article, became more popular on the internet. But this designation can't be maintained on two counts: 1. Cope was not eligible for selection as a lectotype because he wasn't among the specimens/people included by Linnaeus when he made his description (Article 74.1) - *Homo sapiens* was described in 1758 but Cope wasn’t born until 1840, almost 100 years later, so he definitely wasn’t included by Linnaeus. 2. Stearn’s valid designation in 1959 already existed before Psihoyos’ designation in 1994 and no designations after Stearn’s can be valid (Article 74.1.1). More can be found in the following useful http://www.jstor.org/pss/4065043 -- Dr. Gurcharan Singh Retired Associate Professor SGTB Khalsa College, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007 Res: 932 Anand Kunj, Vikas Puri, New Delhi-110018. Phone: 011-25518297 Mob: 9810359089 http://people.du.ac.in/~singhg45/ On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 12:48 PM, Mahadeswara <[email protected]> wrote: > Very informative and important information, even for qualified > taxonomists. > > On Jan 17, 4:03 am, Pankaj Kumar <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hope you will like reading this!! > > > > All taxonomists and botanists must have heard of the term TYPE and > TYPIFICATION. > > > > When you describe a plant or animal for the first time, you have to > > refer to a specimen, which according to ICBN [Vienna Code (Article > > 37.4)] for plants, should be a specimen in any form preserved at any > > herbaria in the world. And you have to mention this information along > > with the name of the herbaria and the voucher number in the manuscript > > you have published using the word "type" or "holotype" or "holo" etc. > > > > But during early times, there was no such provision and people used to > > describe new species without citing any specimens. Hence in ICBN there > > is an option of LECTOTYPIFICATION. In this you designate a type or > > nomenclatural type for the particular taxa. This procedure is called > > Lectotypification and the specimen is called Lectotype and then there > > are rules for designating the lectotype. > > > > From 1735 onwards, Carl von Linné, Latinized as Carolus Linnæus, > > published his famous work, Systema Naturae in many editions. For those > > who are unaware, this book contains classification of animals too. By > > 10th edition in 1758 he had divided Animal Kingdom into 6 groups and > > he has described human beings in binomials as Homo sapiens but as for > > most of his plants, he never designated a type for Homo sapiens. > > > > So a lecotype for Homo sapiens was designated 300 years later in 1959. > > > > Big question is, what was the lectotype for Homo sapiens L.?? > > > > Answers is "Carl von Linné" > > > > Regards > > Pankaj > > > > -- > > *********************************************** > > "TAXONOMISTS GETTING EXTINCT AND SPECIES DATA DEFICIENT !!" > > > > Pankaj Kumar Ph.D. (Orchidaceae) > > Research Associate > > Greater Kailash Sacred Landscape Project > > Department of Habitat Ecology > > Wildlife Institute of India > > Post Box # 18 > > Dehradun - 248001, India >
