On Tue, Jul 6, 2010 at 6:10 AM, Richard Pyle deepreef@bishopmuseum.org wrote:
This is why the only way we're going to be able to establish RelationshipAssertions (sensu TCS) is via third-party assertions. In other words, someone is going to have to assert an opinion over whether the implied members of Smith's Aus bus would have included the population in Hawaii, and whether the implied set of Jones' Aus cus would have included the population in the Marshall Islands.
I think that a "someone" is always asserting such an opinion - Smith and Jones included. There is no Platonic ideal of a particular species. Every single classification is a matter of educated opinion. Smith has one opinion and Jones has another opinion. Brown may step in and decide that Smith's opinion is the correct one - but that's just another opinion. Consumers of the classification choose whose opinions are the most useful.
A taxon is always related to a taxon-assigner. In this sense, "circumscription" is perhaps not the best way to think about it, because very few assigners actually determine taxa by enumerating organisms.
The idea of researchers creating taxa, and third parties adjudicating them to arrive at the "true" classification, is too limited. It's third parties all the way down.
///ark