SCHUH, RANDALL T. Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024. - The Linnaean System and its 250 year persistence.
The Linnaean system of nomenclature has been used and adapted by
biologists over a period of almost 250 years. Under the current system
of codes it is now applied to more than 2 million species of
organisms. Inherent in the Linnaean system is the indication of
hierarchic relationships. The Linnaean system has been justified
primarily on the basis of stability. Stability can be assessed on at
least two grounds: the absolute stability of names, irrespective of
taxonomic concept; and the continuing application of the same names to
the same concepts. More recent arguments have invoked conformity to
phylogenetic methods as the primary basis for choice of nomenclatural
systems, but even here stability of names as they relate to
monophyletic groups is the ultimate objective. The idea of absolute
stability was wrong from the start. The reasons are several. First,
taxa are concepts, no matter the frequency of assertions to the
contrary; as such, they are subject to change at all levels and always
will be. Second, even if the true nature of all taxa could be agreed
upon, the goal would require that we discover them all and correctly
recognize them for what they are. Much of biology is far from that
goal at the species level and even further for generic and
higher-groups. Botanical nomenclature is more stable than zoological
in the spelling of species epithets. This simplifies database creation
and maintainence. Yet, stability at this level is superficial.
Nomenclature serves as a tool for biology. Absolute stability would
hinder scientific progress rather than promote it. It can been
demonstrated that the scientific goals of systematists are far from
achieved. Thus, the goal of nomenclatural stability is illusory and
misguided. The primary strength of the Linnaean system is its ability
to portray hierarchic relationships; stability is secondary.
Key words: Linnaean, nomenclature