User talk:Isopodz

Please do not change names of taxa (Ordo -> order) etc. We have a consensus here. Thank you. Lycaon 07:22, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't know where your consensus comes from (or what "we" constitutes) but the names are not as normally used, and I tried to correct them. I suggest that you check the spellings in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Although the ICZN does not control names above the family-group, for consistency, the higher level names need to be spelled in the same language. I am not trying to start international language flame wars, but as a practising systematist, I feel a strong need for a central standard for communicating systematic information. This is the problem with Wikipedia and why it will never be authoritative - amateurs develop ad hoc consensus that are at variance with the way professionals do things.

The various codes are published in various languages and may indeed use the English words for the English version. Wikispecies may become a database some day. When I look up database standards at the International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases [1] I see that they use the latin names for the higher level taxon. [2]. I prefer to use the latin since wikispecies is not multilingual. Open2universe 03:13, 4 March 2006

Hmmm - checked that out but I disagree that Latin is used for ranks in Zoology; I suspect that this is more of a Botanical thing, which I see drives a lot of the agenda over at TDWG. I invite you to find your Latin spelling of ranks in Zootaxa [3]. The ICZN [4] is in English and in French. The Latin ranks page is another Wiki, not an actual TDWG document. You didn't say who "WE" was, as in "we have a consensus here". If it is just you & me, then that is hardly a consensus. If you want this wiki to be taken seriously, then you need to stick to what real zoologists do. I won't spend time on this wikispecies, if I have to argue over stylistic details. Latin ranks are not used in Zoology.

Come on, be reasonable, consensus here means agreement amongst most 'bulk' contributors. Don't let this stop you from contributing from your field of expertise: it is very much valued. It's only taxonomical labels, not the taxonomy we disagree on. The fact that we use latin is to 'cater' for users of all different languages, avoiding english as much as possible in the process. I also disagree on some features of wikispecies/wikipedia (who doesn't?), but that won't stop me adding content here or full articles to (nl:)wikipedia. Please reconsider. Lycaon 13:44, 24 July 2006 (UTC)