Re: Megapnosaurus, Geosternbergia, and ethics

["Ken Kinman" <kinman@hotmail.com>]

Dear All,
    I'm not going to comment on the "ethics" of this (we may not know all 
the facts anyway).  It would probably have been much better if Raath had 
been informed (I guess that we are assuming that he was not, but has this 
been established?).
    Several years after _Sternbergia_ (a genus or subgenus of pterosaur) 
had been named (by a Dr. Miller), I discovered that it was preoccupied and 
contacted him immediately.  We then discovered it was actually doubly 
preoccupied.  To make a long story short, Miller renamed his pterosaur 
Geosternbergia, and I got mentioned in the paper, and everybody was happy.  
That is the best way to handle such things.  This was back in my college 
days, but I was already deeply into ICZN stuff.
    But it's too late to cry excessively over spilt milk in the Syntarsus 
case, and as Tom Holtz indicated, what's done is done.  But hopefully this 
will help deter this from happening in the future (again, assuming Raath was 
not actually notified).
          ----- Cheers,  Ken

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