1. Taxonomic History of the Imaginary Genus Aus L. 1758 Jessie Kennedy Napier University

2. Taxonomic Revision This presentation gives an overview of the process of taxonomic revision as recorded in the taxonomic literature. The aim is to show the ambiguity in meaning of taxonomic names.

3. In Linneaus 1758 In Archer 1965 In Tucker 1991 In Pargiter 2003 In Pyle 1990 Aus aus L.1758 (ii) Aus L.1758 Aus bea Archer 1965 (i) Aus L.1758 Aus aus L.1758 Linneaus 1758 In Fry 1989 (iii) Aus L.1758 Aus aus L.1758 Aus bea Archer 1965 Aus cea BFry 1989 Fry 1989 (v) Aus L.1758 Xus beus (Archer) Pargiter 2003. Aus ceus BFry 1989 Xus Pargiter 2003 Pargiter 2003 Aus aus L. 1758 bea and cea noted as invalid names and replaced with beus and ceus. Pyle 1990 Aus aus L.1758 Tucker 1991 (iv) Aus L.1758 Aus cea BFry 1989 Publications of Taxonomic Revisions Publications of Purely Nomenclatural Observation A diligent nomenclaturist, Pyle (1990), notes that the species epthithets of Aus bea and Aus cea are of the wrong gender and publishes the corrected names Aus beus corrig. Archer 1965 and Aus ceus corrig. BFry 1989 Tucker publishes his revison without noting Pyle’s corrigendum of the name of Aus cea Pargiter publishes his revision using Pyle’s corrigendum of the epithet bea to beus and Aus cea to Aus ceus. type specimen genus name genus species species name publication specimens Archer splits Aus aus L. 1758 into two species, retains the name for one and creates a new one Taxonomic history of the imaginary genus Aus L. 1758 Fry splits Aus bea Archer. 1965 into two species, retains the name for one and creates a new one Tucker finds new specimens and combines Aus aus L. 1758 and Aus bea Archer. 1965 into one species, retains the name. Pargiter decides to resplit Aus aus but believes bea(beus) is in a new genus Xus.

4. Take Home Message…. Names are ambiguous unless cited in the context of the classification. –Aus aus has 3 different meanings –Aus bea has 2 different meanings but things that might have been called Aus bea might also have been called Aus beus or Xus beus… Matching of data on taxonomic names can result in erroneous interpretations of data. Taxon Concepts - Taxon Names as defined by a taxonomist in a given revision or taxonomic description – are more appropriate “names” for identifying organisms.