Re: Magnapaulia, "new" lambeosaurine from Baja California, Mexico

[Mike Keesey <keesey@gmail.com>]

On Wed, Jun 13, 2012 at 2:26 PM,  <tyazbeck@comcast.net> wrote:
> Why should we quit using binomials?

Because the name of a taxon should not have to change based on its
higher classification )or, for that matter, its rank). That causes
nomenclatural instability. A taxon (as indicated by a definition)
should get one name and that should be the end of the matter.

Unfortunately there's the little matter of history.

> It's like saying the United States needs to stop being a free market economy 
> and adopt communism.

That analogy doesn't make any sense to me. It's more like QWERTY
keyboards -- they were adopted  for a reason that is no longer viable,
but we can't change to something more efficient (like Dvorak) because
everyone's too used to them.

-- 
T. Michael Keesey
http://tmkeesey.net/