Sherborn’s influence on Systema Dipterorum

By

Thompson, Christian
Pape, Thomas

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2016

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

550

Pages

135-152

Subjects

biodiversity informatics infrastructure , Flies , Identification , nomenclator , quality assurance standard , taxonomic catalog

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.550.9447

 

Abstract

Flies make up more than 10% of the planetary biota and our well-being depends on how we manage our coexistence with flies. Storing and accessing relevant knowledge about flies is intimately connected with using correct names, and Systema Dipterorum provides a single authoritative classification for flies developed by consensus among contributors. The 160,000 species of flies currently known are distributed among 160 recent families and some 12,000 genera, which with their synonyms encompass a total of more than a quarter of a million names. These names and their associated classification are shared with relevant global solutions. Sherborn appears to have done remarkably well indexing Diptera names with an overall error rate estimated to be close to 1%.