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something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:57 am
by Mario Schweiger
Abstract:
The Lataste’s Viper (Vipera latastei) species complex has been the subject of numerous studies in recent
years and yet the taxonomy of the group has not been appropriately updated.
This paper presents a new taxonomy for the species complex recognizing eight species, for which names are
available for three and five are formally described and named for the first time according to the rules of the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
Recognized as full species are the taxa Vipera latastei Bosca, 1878, V. gaditana (Saint Girons, 1977) and V.
monticola (Saint-Girons, 1954).
Supported by robust molecular data, allopatry and morphological differences, two new species are described
from North Africa, namely Vipera hoserae sp. nov. and Vipera wellsi sp. nov. and three from Spain, namely
Vipera wellingtoni sp. nov., Vipera britoi sp. nov. and Vipera veloantoni sp. nov..
Keywords: Taxonomy; Snake; Viperidae; serpents; Viper; Europe; Spain; Portugal; Morocco; Algeria; Atlas
Mountains; Rif Mountains; Hoser; Wells; Wellington; Vipera; latastei; monticola; gaditana; nigricaudata; new
species; hoserae; wellsi; wellingtoni; britoi; veloantoni.


issue-30-pages-28-36.pdf
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Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:50 am
by Jeroen Speybroeck
It's of course a waste of time to even read this unscientific nonsense, but it's also entertaining in a sick way.

Naming a species after yourself, the use of emotional rather than rational language, and (again) the irrelevant rant against Wolfgang Wüster are just a few of the crazy elements in this 'paper'. One can only (seriously) be concerned about this person's mental health.

I wonder where he got those scale details. Maybe Hoser has never even been to Spain... Of course, no source is given nor the size of the sample or geographical origin of the specimens on which they are based. The number of ventrals of Vipera hoserae has an average of 134 and ranges from 133 tot 135!? If this is not simply fabricated/invented, it sure is the most narrow ventral scale range I know. Note also how each species gets the same description featuring all of the species. I honestly don't understand why anyone would find energy to write this (because it takes some work, even if it's nonsense).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Hoser, he writes this kind of ubersplit silliness on a regular basis. The journal is owned by himself.

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 11:36 am
by Kristian Munkholm
Jeroen Speybroeck wrote:I honestly don't understand why anyone would find energy to write this (because it takes some work, even if it's nonsense).


Glancing through this latest issue (I never took the time actually read any of it end to end) I started to wonder whether you couldn't produce this using a slightly advanced version of a random bullshit generator. The thought that anyone would anyone would actually go to the trouble of writing it all from scratch is indeed simply too disturbing.

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 12:21 pm
by Martti Niskanen
Won't give Hoser the time of day. He's a silly man with issues. His publications/brain farts should be ignored, but unfortunately can't due to taxonomic naming rules. The personal attacks are a nice touch, but for some reason he doesn't seem to mention W. Schleip in the main text (kinda half read the text, so might be wrong). Probably, and most likely more to come in future publications.

Also, this reminds me of him getting slammed with Malayopython, which was rather enjoyable.

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:24 pm
by Guillaume Gomard
When I read Hoser´s papers, the first thing that comes into my mind is that "even a broken clock gives the right time twice a day": He revised so much the taxonomy that in few cases, it turns out that he was actually right, even though his conclusions were not derived from a proper analysis. Of course he can use his numerous (re)descriptions to claim anteriority, and since most of the scientists just ignore his taxonomic revision attempts, he declares "plagiarism". Endless story...
Naming a species after yourself
: It´s not really elegant, indeed, but I guess it is nevertheless allowed, right?

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 6:39 pm
by Frédéric Seyffarth
Raymond Hoser is just boring. He should let our herps in peace. ;)

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:03 pm
by Kristian Munkholm
Guillaume Gomard wrote:
Naming a species after yourself
: It´s not really elegant, indeed, but I guess it is nevertheless allowed, right?


Regardless of whether it's "illegal" or just frowned upon he takes care not to. Instead, he names them after family members. Vipera hoserae is named in honour of his mother :lol:

...on another note, I wasted my time reading a little more and realized this stuff must be hand written. If I ever had the desire to pull a Hoser, I would certainly save myself a lot of work by programming the above mentioned random biological species description bullshit generator first. The quality of my papers would be every bit as high as those of dear old Ray...

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 8:35 pm
by Jeroen Speybroeck
Kristian Munkholm wrote:Vipera hoserae is named in honour of his mother :lol:

Well, he's creative ;) :lol:
If he'd be serious (and respectful towards his mother) he'd use her maiden name, though.

Guillaume, it is not forbidden by the ICZN, but it's an unwritten rule and virtually no one ever does it.

Martti Niskanen wrote:taxonomic naming rules

There's no such thing. Fortunately, taxonomy and nomenclature (= the names business) are (fairly) separate branches. But it's true that he's abusing the ICZN.

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 9:31 pm
by Guillaume Gomard
What about those guys? :)
taxo.png
taxo.png (123.65 KiB) Viewed 9443 times


More here: http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/etym/people.html

Efficient to be remembered but I do prefer latin names that convey a particular trait of the animal.

Re: something, we have to ignore!

PostPosted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 10:08 pm
by Berislav Horvatic
Well, if I ever find Vipera ursinii on the island of Krk (which I won't, of course, but just suppose the (un)possibility),
I'll name it Vipera ursinii hoserae, ssp. nova, for sure. (Or hoseri, to avoid his mother.) He'd be extremely glad, I
suppose, in any of the two cases. Or maybe it would be just too "small peas" for a giant like that? Wait and see.
Or rather, don't - just joking.
Or, maybe, in view of Heteropoda dawidbowie and alike, should I try with Vipera ursinii rollingstonsii ssp. nova?
No, I'd rather use marioschweigeri, in the honour of my first teacher in fieldherpetology. (And this is NOT a joke.)