Photography-based taxonomy is inadequate, unnecessary, and potentially harmful for biological sciences
Luis M. P. Ceríaco
(1, 2)
,
Eliécer E. Gutiérrez
(3, 4)
,
Alain Dubois
(5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
,
Cristian Simon Abdala
(10)
,
Abdulaziz S. Alqarni
(11)
,
Kraig Adler
(12)
,
Edson A. Adriano
(13)
,
Erna Aescht
(14)
,
Ishan Agarwal
(15)
,
Sabine Agatha
(16)
,
Donat Agosti
(17)
,
Antonio J.C. Aguiar
(18)
,
Jonas José Mendes Aguiar
(19)
,
Dirk Ahrens
(20)
,
Alexandre Aleixo
(21)
,
Maria Judite Alves
(2)
,
Fabio Raposo Do Amaral
(13)
,
Natalia Ananjeva
(22)
,
Marcelo C. Andrade
(23)
,
Marco Brandalise de Andrade
(24)
,
Franco Andreone
(25)
,
Pedro P.U. Aquino
(18)
,
Paula Beatriz Araujo
(26)
,
Henrard Arnaud
(27)
,
Jairo Arroyave
(28)
,
Wolfgang Arthofer
(29)
,
Tom J. Artois
(30)
,
Diego Astua
(31)
,
Celso Azevedo
(32)
,
Justin C. Bagley
(18)
,
Diego Baldo
(33)
,
Helen Margaret Barber-James
(34)
,
Eva V. Bärmann
(20)
,
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
(2)
,
Michael F. Bates
(35)
,
Aaron M. Bauer
(15)
,
Franziska Bauer
(36)
,
Ricardo C. Benine
(37)
,
Daniel J. Bennett
(38)
,
Bastian Bentlage
(39)
,
Björn Berning
(40)
,
Daizy Bharti
(41)
,
Cibele Biondo
(42)
,
José Birindelli
(43)
,
Theo Blick
(44)
,
Giovanni Boano
(45)
,
Flávio A. Bockmann
(13)
,
Wieslaw Bogdanowicz
(46)
,
Wolfgang Böhme
(20)
,
Enrico Borgo
(45)
,
Leo Borkin
(47)
,
Marcos Ricardo
(37)
,
Roger Bour
(5, 9)
,
William R. Branch
(48)
,
Cinthia A. Brasileiro
(13)
,
Janet K. Braun
(49)
,
Gustavo A. Bravo
(50)
,
Luc Brendonck
(51)
,
Guilherme R. R. Brito
(52)
,
Marcelo R. Britto
(52)
,
Paulo A. Buckup
(52)
,
Daniel Burckhardt
(53)
,
Ulrich Burkhardt
(54)
,
Stephen D. Busack
(55)
,
Luiz A. Campos
(26)
,
Alain Canard
(56)
,
Eliana M. Cancello
(57)
,
Ulisses Caramaschi
(52)
,
James M. Carpenter
(58)
,
Martin Carr
(59)
,
Renan Carrenho
(13)
,
Alexandra Cartaxana
(2)
,
Mariom A. Carvajal
(60)
,
Gervásio Silva Carvalho
(24)
,
Marcelo Rodrigues de Carvalho
(13)
,
Amira Chaabane
(61)
,
Cinthia Chagas
(62)
,
Prosanta Chakrabarty
(63)
,
Kailas Chandra
(64)
,
Stylianos Chatzimanolis
(65)
,
Stephen W. Chordas Iii
(66)
,
Alexandre U. Christoff
(67)
,
Fabio Cianferoni
(68)
,
Santiago Claramunt
(58)
,
Dan Cogãlniceanu
(69)
,
Bruce B. Collette
(4)
,
Guarino R. Colli
(18)
,
Timothy J. Colston
(70)
,
Werner Conradie
(48)
,
Jérôme Constant
(71)
,
Reginaldo Constantino
(18)
,
Joseph A. Cook
(72)
,
Danilo Cordeiro
(73)
,
Alexandra Marçal Correia
(2)
,
Fenton P.D. Cotterill
(74)
,
Brandi Coyner
(49)
,
Mario A. Cozzuol
(75)
,
Joël Cracraft
(58)
,
Angelica Crottini
(76)
,
Giulio Cuccodoro
(77)
,
Jean Yves Rasplus
(78)
1
Department of Biology
2 Museu Nacional de Historia Natural e da Ciencia
3 Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas
4 National Museum of Natural History
5 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
6 EPHE - École Pratique des Hautes Études
7 UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6
8 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
9 SU - Sorbonne Université
10 UNT - Universidad Nacional de Tucumán
11 KSU - King Saud University [Riyadh]
12 Cornell University [New York]
13 Universidade Federal de São Paulo
14 Austrian Museum
15 Villanova University [USA]
16 Universität Salzburg
17 Plazi
18 UnB - Universidade de Brasilia [Brasília]
19 USP - Universidade de São Paulo = University of São Paulo
20 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig
21 MPEG - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi [Belém, Brésil]
22 RAS - the Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow, Russia]
23 UFPA - Federal University of Para - Universidade Federal do Pará - UFPA [Belém, Brazil]
24 PUCRS - Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul
25 Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali
26 UFRGS - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul [Porto Alegre]
27 RMCA - Royal Museum for Central Africa [Tervuren]
28 UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México = National Autonomous University of Mexico
29 Institute of Ecology
30 UHasselt - Hasselt University
31 UFPE - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco [Recife]
32 UFES - Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo
33 IRD [Nouvelle-Calédonie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
34 Albany Museum
35 National Museum
36 Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen
37 UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho = São Paulo State University
38 Stephen F. Austin State University
39 Smithsonian Institution
40 Tyrolean State Museum
41 UNICAM - Università degli Studi di Camerino = University of Camerino
42 Universidade Federal do ABC
43 Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Londrina
44 Senckenberg Research Institute
45 Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
46 Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
47 RAS - Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow]
48 Port Elizabeth Museum
49 Sam Noble Museum
50 Harvard University
51 NWU - North-West University [Potchefstroom]
52 Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
53 Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Bâle
54 Senckenberg Museum [Frankfurt]
55 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
56 UR - Université de Rennes
57 MZ - Museu de Zoologia
58 AMNH - American Museum of Natural History
59 University of Huddersfield
60 NDSU - North Dakota State University
61 Faculté des Sciences de Sfax
62 DPTC - Departamento de Polícia Técnico Científica
63 Museum of Natural Science
64 Zoological Survey of India
65 University of Tennessee System
66 OSU - Ohio State University [Columbus]
67 Museu de Ciências Naturais
68 Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze
69 Ovidius University of Constanta
70 The University of Mississippi [Oxford]
71 RBINS - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
72 The University of New Mexico [Albuquerque]
73 INPA - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
74 Stellenbosch University
75 UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
76 Centro de Investigaçao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos
77 MHN - Museum d'Histoire Naturelle [Genève]
78 UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations
2 Museu Nacional de Historia Natural e da Ciencia
3 Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas
4 National Museum of Natural History
5 ISYEB - Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité
6 EPHE - École Pratique des Hautes Études
7 UPMC - Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6
8 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
9 SU - Sorbonne Université
10 UNT - Universidad Nacional de Tucumán
11 KSU - King Saud University [Riyadh]
12 Cornell University [New York]
13 Universidade Federal de São Paulo
14 Austrian Museum
15 Villanova University [USA]
16 Universität Salzburg
17 Plazi
18 UnB - Universidade de Brasilia [Brasília]
19 USP - Universidade de São Paulo = University of São Paulo
20 Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig
21 MPEG - Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi [Belém, Brésil]
22 RAS - the Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow, Russia]
23 UFPA - Federal University of Para - Universidade Federal do Pará - UFPA [Belém, Brazil]
24 PUCRS - Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio Grande do Sul
25 Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali
26 UFRGS - Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul [Porto Alegre]
27 RMCA - Royal Museum for Central Africa [Tervuren]
28 UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México = National Autonomous University of Mexico
29 Institute of Ecology
30 UHasselt - Hasselt University
31 UFPE - Universidade Federal de Pernambuco [Recife]
32 UFES - Universidade Federal do Espirito Santo
33 IRD [Nouvelle-Calédonie] - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement
34 Albany Museum
35 National Museum
36 Senckenberg Naturhistorische Sammlungen
37 UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho = São Paulo State University
38 Stephen F. Austin State University
39 Smithsonian Institution
40 Tyrolean State Museum
41 UNICAM - Università degli Studi di Camerino = University of Camerino
42 Universidade Federal do ABC
43 Museu de Zoologia da Universidade Estadual de Londrina
44 Senckenberg Research Institute
45 Museo Civico di Storia Naturale
46 Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
47 RAS - Russian Academy of Sciences [Moscow]
48 Port Elizabeth Museum
49 Sam Noble Museum
50 Harvard University
51 NWU - North-West University [Potchefstroom]
52 Museu Nacional do Rio de Janeiro
53 Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Bâle
54 Senckenberg Museum [Frankfurt]
55 North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
56 UR - Université de Rennes
57 MZ - Museu de Zoologia
58 AMNH - American Museum of Natural History
59 University of Huddersfield
60 NDSU - North Dakota State University
61 Faculté des Sciences de Sfax
62 DPTC - Departamento de Polícia Técnico Científica
63 Museum of Natural Science
64 Zoological Survey of India
65 University of Tennessee System
66 OSU - Ohio State University [Columbus]
67 Museu de Ciências Naturais
68 Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze
69 Ovidius University of Constanta
70 The University of Mississippi [Oxford]
71 RBINS - Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
72 The University of New Mexico [Albuquerque]
73 INPA - Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
74 Stellenbosch University
75 UFMG - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais = Federal University of Minas Gerais [Belo Horizonte, Brazil]
76 Centro de Investigaçao em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos
77 MHN - Museum d'Histoire Naturelle [Genève]
78 UMR CBGP - Centre de Biologie pour la Gestion des Populations
Luis M. P. Ceríaco
- Function : Correspondent author
Werner Conradie
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 784317
- ORCID : 0000-0003-0805-9683
Angelica Crottini
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 762454
- ORCID : 0000-0002-8505-3050
- IdRef : 235612413
Jean Yves Rasplus
- Function : Author
- PersonId : 1157669
- IdHAL : jean-yves-rasplus
- ORCID : 0000-0001-8614-6665
- IdRef : 031082343
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.
Domains
Life Sciences [q-bio]
Origin : Publisher files allowed on an open archive