TaxonomicRankDiscussion

(This is an appendix to the enumeration of type terms proposed in TaxonomicRankEnum)

Note: to add specific comments, please add a second-level bullet, i. e. six blanks plus asterisk. General comments can be added at the end of the text.

Note: The ICBN is available on the web (http://www.bgbm.fu-berlin.de/iapt/nomenclature/code/SaintLouis/0001ICSLContents.htm), the ICZN is only sold in print (but a draft is available at http://owww.ruca.ua.ac.be/collembola/doc/iczn4txt.htm).

Open issues

• Should convar be in the list or not?
• Are pathovar and biovar only used in Bacteriology?
• Is there a difference between species group and species aggregate? what is latin for species group?
• Should divisio (bot.) and phylum (zoo) be merged? They are on the same level, but for botany and zoology different labels are used. However, this would present the problem of splitting the name/labels into botanical and zoological representations...
• Further Problem: In botany between genus and subforma any rank may be prefixed with "notho" indicating hybrid status. Do we need different labels for different purposes in the standard, should this be the task of the application, or should this be different ranks (as currently for div/phyl.!)
• A list of infraspecific special variety "ranks" for bacteriology is available at http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/bacdico/glossaire.html#infrasubspecifique. Not all of these terms have been included (see also the terms on the third sheet in attached Excel workbook: InfraspecificBacteria).
• What is the difference between aggregate and species group? They have both been currently included following the MoreTax / Berlin model. I believe, however, that perhaps they are synonyms; from my own work I would believe there is only one "pseudorank" for species group/species aggregate. The usage I am aware of is an operational entity in cases where species are known to exist, but cannot be reliably differentiated in field studies.

Editorial notes in ABCD 1.44:

• "Should this be an enumerated type, or will we have to split RankType into ICxN-specific, or even discipline-specific versions? For example, the rank "Tribe" has different positions in Entomology and Ichthyology [DH]."
  • The comment on Entomology and Icthyology seems to be incorrect - as far as I can tell Tribe always appears between Family and Genus in all groups. -- DonaldHobern - 20 Jul 2004
• For RankAbbreviationType W. Berendsohn annotates that "The controlled vocabulary must contain terms with spaces". An example is xs:enumeration value="formaSPACEspec.".
  • I would contradict, since blanks are necessary only for the infraspecific output during name building, not for the controlled vocabulary term. I consider the preferred builder-abbreviation being on the same level as a label, not an enumerated code.
• The RankAbbreviationType contained duplicates for different spellings, i.e. it was an option list to cover the most frequent spelling traditions, but not the rank itself. For example, it contained 'f.' and 'forma', (but then 'fm.' was missing).
  • In the current proposal, this has been treated using PreferredAbbreviation and AdditionalAbbreviation (in the schema in appinfo/Specification).

The Excel spreadsheet attached below contains all the data of the enumeration in an easily reviewable form, and contains some additional information not yet added to the specification. This spreadsheet has been used to create the enumeration xml data.

-- Gregor Hagedorn - 20. July 2004