more phantom names (was: Errors = phantom names on the Internet)

[Faunaplan at AOL.COM]

On 18.04.06 15:23:50 (MEZ), p.kirk at CABI.ORG wrote:
>>let me once again, if I may, point to the real problem of  'phantom names' 
on the internet and how to avoid them. This is because a recent search via 
(http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/portal/) revealed many more errors and it 
seems to me the problem is already more common on WWW than it ever was in the 
printed literature. Fast access  to information is fine but fast access to 
wrong information is an imminent threat that calls for quick solutions.<<
>I would not say that it is more common ... just more accessible.<

Can't believe it? Take ground beetles of the genus Morion for an example: 
Real beetles of this genus inhabit our planet's tropical and subtropical 
forests since at least 50 million years (one middle eocene specimen found in 
"Grube Messel", Germany). Currently about 40 extant species are known (see <
http://nature.berkeley.edu/~kiplingw/Morionini>) and the age of WWW has added 5 
phantoms: "Morion anodontus Bas", "Morion elgonensis Bänninger", "Morion hutschinsi 
Allard", "Morion jeanelli Bänninger", "Morion marakwerensis Bänninger". 
Okay, maybe I was hitting an extreme nest of phantoms here...

> the nomenclators would be very grateful to hear about omissions and errors<
That's what I'm trying to do. However, -  as Doug Yanega wrote several months 
ago - it isn't easy to detect errors in a database when you can't generate 
reports (such as catalog-style output) from it..

Cheers,
Wolfgang
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Wolfgang Lorenz, Tutzing, Germany