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Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 12:04:57 -0400
From: Kevin de Queiroz <Dequeiroz.Kevin@NMNH.SI.EDU>
To: gerrymoore@bbg.org, Phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Subject: Re: Art 10.1
Gerry Moore raised a good point: "Art. 10.1 states that "[a] preexisting specific or infraspecific epithet may not be converted to a clade name." In botany many generic names in use are spelled identically to species epithets. For example, the name Paradoxa is in current use for a genus of fungus. However, the name "paradoxa" is commonly used as a specific (and infraspecific) epithet. (We botanists apparently find a lot of things to be contrary to our expectations.) Doesn't Art 10.1 ban the conversion of Paradoxa to a clade name? This rule would result in great instability when names used in the old system are converted to the new system. In zoology, things are even worse since tautonyms are perfectly acceptable (though rare). Doesn't the existence of Rattus rattus (rat) prohibit the conversion of Rattus to a clade name under Art 10.1 (in other words rats will have to be called something else other than Rattus under the Phylocode)?" >We may want to revise this rule to indicate that it doesn't apply to preexisting genus names (or those associated with even higher ranks) that are spelled identically (except for capitalization) to preexisting epithets. On the other hand, we may decide that we do indeed want to prohibit this type of homonymy. In any case, it's an issue that needs to be considered. "To me the goal of Article 10.1 -- preventing homonomy between clade names and species (and infraspecific) epithets -- is not desirable as it would cause great instability since many widely used generic names would be banned from use (since they are also used as epithets)." Actually, the purpose of this article was not to prevent homonomies of the type you indicated between clade names and species names. The purpose was to prevent people who didn't believe in species from converting names that other people use for species as the names of small clades that have roughly the same composition as the species. "Also, Note 10.1.1 seems unworkable since it may oftentimes be impossible to know if someone did this deliberately or not. Why is Article 10.1 needed?" In most cases this shouldn't be difficult to determine. As long as the author follows Article 9.5 (citation of the preexisting name upon which a converted clade name is based), it should be possible to determine whether a converted clade name is based on (for example) the genus name Paradoxa or the specific epithet paradoxa. Kevin de Queiroz 31 July 2000