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Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 09:11:11 -0400
From: [unknown]
To: phylocode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Subject: use of vernacular names
Jason Anderson wrote: > >> Phil Cantino pointed out that use of the vernacular "tetrapod" ca= n >continue to >> refer to limbed vertebrates as workers wish with no problem in th= e forme=3D r >option David Marjanovic wrote: >Apart from being, I fear, hopelessly confusing, it could get us into= some >funny situations. For example... it could be illegal. If we tried to= fix th=3D e >meaning of "t=3DE9trapode", we would be usurping the job of the Acad= =3DE9mie >Fran=3DE7aise; I wouldn't be surprised if that were illegal in Franc= e. >"Vernacular" doesn't only mean "English". > This example may or may not be a wild exaggeration, but sup= pose we >give *Tetrapoda* to the crown-group and establish "tetrapod" for a m= ember o=3D f >the apomorphy-based clade. How will we then call a member of *Tetrap= oda*? A >"tetrapodan", perhaps? Apart from (again) being very confusing, and >_perpetuating_ the mistakes neontologists often make in ascribing fe= atures >of the crown-group to a larger clade, this couldn't be translated to= German=3D =3D2E >I'm not sure, but probably even translating it to French would lead = to >problems. I think David may have misunderstood what it was=3D20 that I suggested to Jason. I was not proposing=3D20 that the PhyloCode (or any other code) fix the=3D20 meaning of vernacular names such as tetrapod. My=3D20 understanding is that the vernacular names of=3D20 most kinds of organisms are not fixed by any=3D20 code, the English names of birds being an=3D20 exception. I was not aware that the Academie=3D20 =3D46rancaise did this, so perhaps there are other=3D20 exceptions. By and large, though, vernacular=3D20 names are not fixed and therefore can have=3D20 multiple meanings. This ambiguity of vernacular names is generally=3D20 viewed as an undesirable attribute, but in this=3D20 case it may actually be helpful. Someone (it may=3D20 have been Jason) pointed out to me that in=3D20 debates such as how to define Tetrapoda, what=3D20 people get most emotional about is not the=3D20 scientific name but the corresponding vernacular=3D20 name. For example, the notion that four-limbed=3D20 vertebrates that lie outside the crown are not=3D20 "tetrapods" understandably upsets people.=3D20 However, if we continue to allow the vernacular=3D20 name "tetrapod" to be used freely as individual=3D20 people see fit, it can be applied to the crown or=3D20 the total group or anything in between, as=3D20 desired by the user. If Tetrapoda is applied to=3D20 the crown, members of Pan-Tetrapoda could (and no=3D20 doubt would) be referred to as tetrapods.=3D20 Permitting this reduces the intensity of feeling=3D20 about which clade (crown, total, or=3D20 apomorphy-based) a particular scientific name is=3D20 applied to. As long as the name in question is=3D20 the stem of the other name(s) concerned (e.g., as=3D20 Tetrapoda is the stem of Pan-Tetrapoda), the=3D20 corresponding vernacular name can be used for any=3D20 of the clades concerned. I think this consideration is relevant to Jason's=3D20 concern about whether the application of widely=3D20 known names to crown clades will alienate people=3D20 who might otherwise adopt the PhyloCode.=3D20 Specialists whose own research has focused on the=3D20 name concerned will no doubt continue to harbor=3D20 strong feelings about how the name should be=3D20 applied, but I suspect that most others will=3D20 accept the decision with a shrug of the shoulders. Phil --=20 Philip D. Cantino Professor and Associate Chair Department of Environmental and Plant Biology Ohio University Athens, OH 45701-2979 U.S.A. Phone: (740) 593-1128; 593-1126 =3D46ax: (740) 593-1130 e-mail: cantino@ohio.edu