Kinds of taxonomic publications

introduction

No taxonomic study is complete until its results have been published.

The advances in any area of science are made known through publication , an inseparable part of research.

Taxonomic publications range all the way from the short description of a new taxon covering only part of a page, to lengthy monograph or handbooks that may consist of several volumes.

Kinds of publications 1. Short research papers2. Synopses & Reviews3. Revisions 4. Monograph 5. Atlases 6. Faunal / Floral works7. Field guides / Manuals8. Handbooks 9. Catalogues & check lists

Short research papers

These are ordinary descriptive papers of new species , subspecies and genera or combines all of these or some.

It may or may not contain a key for identification.it may also contain a brief checklist of taxa dealt with.

Such isolated descriptions are justified only when names are needed in connection with biological or economic work or when group has been recently revised & the new species can be readily fitted into classification.

Short papers concerning with new records of various taxa are also quite useful.

Synopses and Reviews These are brief summaries of current knowledge of

a group. The inclusion of new material or new interpretations

is not necessarily implied. Such works actually bring together all scattered

information at one place and thus very useful for future revisionary or monographic works.

E.g: # Rao,R.R&B.A Razi,1981. A Synoptic flora of Mysore District. New Delhi. # Kapoor v c & Y K Malla.1977.Dermaptera of Nepal & India ( A taxonomic review).J Nt.Hist.,Nepal 1,151-182.

Taxonomic Revisions Revisions are presentations of new material or new interpretations that have

been integrated with previous knowledge through summary revaluation. Ie; Restudy of a complete unit of a particular group of taxa It Contain redescriptions or diagnosis of little known taxa, list of synonymy,

new combinations, new names etc. along with keys. A revision usually deals with a superfamily or family or part of family It can also deal with a genus or a species group 1. Generic revision 2. Species revisionE.g.: Boucek,Z.1951.The first revision of the European species of the family chalcididae (Hymnoptera).Acta.Ent.Mus.Natn.pragae 27,suppl,1:5-108

Monograph Monographs are complete systematic publications. It involve the full systematic treatment of all species , subspecies and other

taxonomic units. The monograph gives detailed treatment of morphological and geographical

variation of relationships. And also gives biology ( metamorphosis, comparative anatomy

etc..) ,behavior ,catalogue or checklists, affinity ,phylogeny etc.. The preparation of monograph require more complete material than other kind

of taxonomic papers. So a monograph usually requires at least a minimum of 3-5 years of completion.

E.g. Narendran,T.C.1999.Indo-Australian Ormyridae (Hymnoptera : Chalcidoidea). A Systematic monograph, Department of Zoology, University of Calicut :1-

227

Atlases These show comparative characters of animals in picture form. The purpose of atlases is purely taxonomic and includes

diagrammatic or semidiagramatic drawings or actual drawing or photographs.

Atlases are very useful when the description of taxon is inadequate to show characters only.so it used to compare from one species to another.

It mainly deal with such groups as butterflies and birds.

E.g. Ferrus,G.F.1937-1950. Atlas of the scale insects of North America.

Stanford university press, Stanford university, California., 5 vols

Faunal / Floral works It mainly consist of detailed studies of the fauna / flora of particular area or

region. It may include information on geographical distribution.it also contains

quantitative data and ecological comments. The fauna / flora may cover the all organisms of an areas or of any major

group. Worked out only by experienced specialist.

E.g. # Ferrus,G.F.1937-1950. Atlas of the scale insects of North America. Stanford university press, Stanford university,california., 5 vols # Saldanka C J & Nicolson D H 1978.Flora of Hassan District,Karnataka , India.india Aravind Publication .Co.New Delhi.

Field guides

Some works are prepared by the taxonomist for the non-taxonomists to help them identify the common animals in the field.

These include clear cut and easily understood key characters.

Eg; Peterson field guide series: Putnam’s Nature field books and Jaques pictured key Nature .Published by William C Brown company ,London.

Manuals The manuals are also published in simple language including key

characters for common species of animals These are meant for students or layman who can easily identify the

animals . Here important key characters are provided and amply illustrated. Sometimes these may be published as comprehensive works.

Eg: Pratt H S 1951.A manual of the common invertebrate animals ( exclusive of insects ). McGraw-Hill Company, New york,1-854 pp.

Handbooks The term handbook is sometimes used for field identification

guides but nowadays more commonly for comprehensive works on group of animals.

Relatively complete taxonomic treatment , particular emphasis on their biology and distribution.

Handbook are also sometimes named as Treatise.

Eg: # Palmer,R.S.1962. Handbook of North American birds,Vol.1.Yale University Press, New Haven, 567 pp. # Grasse’s Traite de Zoologie 1951,Vols 1-17.

Catalogues A catalogue is mainly an index to taxa arranged in such a

way to give a vivid picture of references for both zoological and nomenclature purposes.

According to Blackwelder (1967) Catalogue contain following information: 1. The original description reference 2. Later references 3. Synonyms with references 4. Range 5. Type locality ( also its depository) 6. Type of the genus

A taxa is usually listed alphabetically The merit of catalogue depends upon the

completeness and so its preparation is a very tedious task.

Useful to know how many species or genera are reported from an area,

Eg; Subba Rao,B.R& Hayat,M. 1986.A catalogue of India and the adjacent countries. Oriental insect 20:1-429

Checklists A checklist is an abbreviated synopsis. It consists of only a valid names and synonyms with year of

publication and a broad indication of geographical distribution. It provides a skeleton classification of a group and serve as a

convenient source for the naming of specimen and arrangement of collections.

Eg: Sasidharan,N.1997. forest trees of Kerala – A check list . KFRI Handbook No.2. Kerala forest Research Institute Peechi.

References

Ernst Mayr “ Principles Of Systematic Zoology ” P: 258 -265

V C Kapoor “Theory and Practice of Animal Taxonomy”

T C Narendran “An Introduction To Taxonomy ” P: 54 - 57

Thank you ByAnand P P