Abstract
A DISCUSSION dealing with subspecies and varieties was held at the meeting of the Linnean Society on February 2. This discussion had been arranged at the request of the Association for the Study of Systematics in Relation to General Biology in order to obtain information as to the views and principles governing the practice of systematists in various groups of animals and plants. It was apparent from the discussion that systematists are generally dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs. As was to be expected, little or no attention is paid to infra-specific categories in the less-known groups of both plant and animal kingdoms; but where the broader taxonomic outlines are well understood there is considerable divergence in systematic practices according to the amount of genetical, cytological and ecological work that has been done. In vertebrates, only a single infra-specific category, the ‘subspecies’, is generally recognized, but in entomology and botany there are others. How many there may be and their status in the taxonomic scheme are matters of dispute, and there is a disturbing confusion in the terminology applied to them. In this connexion, it may be mentioned that the Association is compiling a list of the various terms which have been used. Almost all the speakers stressed the need for more experimental work from the genetical, cytological, physiological and ecological aspects.
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Subspecies and Varieties. Nature 143, 252–253 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143252a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143252a0