At 12:30 PM 12/07/2000 +1000, Sean Pywell wrote:
But I understand that S&M's list works best at the family level and never
really set out to tease apart the intricacies of species.
From the point of view of their DNA work this is true - but the
Sibley-Monroe list is not just a report on their own taxonomic work (which
is actually reported in the book by Sibley and Ahlquist) but a thorough
summary of the literature at the species level with details on splits,
lumps and alternative names. As such it is the most useful modern world
checklist (ie post-Peters) if you are trying to correlate it with other
works, evenif you end up disagreeing with the final choice on taxonomy or
English names. As such I infinitely prefer it to Clements, because the
literature citations and notes make it possible to see where the decisions
come from and how they relate to the work of others. If, for example, you
are trying to find a bird listed in a regional work that is not in
Clements, good luck - but in Sibley you can usually track it down.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
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