User:Berton/PhyloCode

PhyloCode and nomenclatural chaos

"Filum ariadneum Botanices est Systema, sine quo Chaos es Res herbaria" Carl von Linnaeus. (The Ariadne's thread of Botany is systematics, without which Chaos is a botanical phenomenon).

When innumerable species face a growing risk of extinction in nature, egocentric people meet to create an alternative nomenclatural code!

The PhyloCode will never substitute the Linnaean Taxonomy and ICBN.

Why? Because these (Linnaean Taxonomy and ICBN) are established in all herbaria from worldwide with all the nomenclatural types of all species. Because scientific works, Manuals and Floras and very important identification keys from worldwide, besides works of general reference like this Wikipedia refer to the taxa and not clades.

Clades do not exist in Nature! They are based on erroneous phylogenetic concept: monophyly; they must not be named, it is preferable to use numbers to not to augment the confusion, that already is great.

Identification keys are a powerful tools to identify genera and species worldwide, they are utilized for most people, it doesn't matter if they are artificial or natural.

See these comments in Williams, D. M. et al. (2005):Letter to the editor.150 reasons for paraphyly: a response. Taxon 54(4):858.:"The signatories refer to E. O. Wilson’s contribution to the recent symposium on “Linnaean Taxonomy in the 21st Century” held in 2001. The report documenting Wilson’s contribution makes no comment on paraphyly, its preservation or necessity for Linnaean taxonomy. The report does mention that “Wilson recommended that systematists should focus their efforts on discovering life and understanding phylogenetic relationships. He stressed that for taxonomists to be considering a radical makeover of our method of classification at this time would be like ‘rewriting the operating manual for the Titanic’.” (DeFilipps, 2001). Wilson’s words are directed at the PhyloCode—not cladistics, as are also Wheeler’s (2004: 359), whose commentary is also helpful."

See also this very important initiative, like a manifest against PhyloCode and excesses of Cladistics: "Taxon 54(1)(2005): 5-8 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (Coordinated by: Nordal, I. & Stedje, B.): Paraphyletic taxa should be accepted. available online here (pdf file; page 18), including proposal, but without the 150 signatories, several notable botanists from world-wide, among them: R. K. Brummitt (from Kew) and Mark Sosef.

Thus PhyloCode tends to be forgotten.