My comments on mock turtles

1. I would like to wish all my friends and readers of my blog a Happy and Prosperous New Year. Some people say as 2010 is the year of the tiger (panthera tigris) it is a new and roaring beginning and a new start for a journey for another 365 days before we all come to another new year to be called 2011.

2. In my first posting for the year 2010 I would like to share with you all the content of Nature : 423 : 219-220 entitled, "Mock turtles". It is a must read for all the taxonomic students and those interested in taxonomy and conservation.

3. In the 1980s descriptions of many new species of freshwater and land turtles of China and Southeast Asia emerged in prestigous journals written by some well-known biologists. China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals put 4 of them for wildlife conservation.

4. One taxonomic student James Parham and his associate Haitao Shi from Hainan University went into private investigations and found out that one was a possible new species (Cuora mccordii), 3 were previously described elsewhere and 6 were probably hybrids.


5. The points are, firstly the scientists didn't know that those were hybrids produced by breeders in China, supplied the innocent specimens to the Americans Veterinarian by one Malaysian and one Hong Kong's dealers. Innocently or otherwise, the biologists described them as new. Secondly, the investigators claimed some funds already were spent to conserve these rare and endangered turtles, not knowing there were hundreds or thousands in Chinese farms for sale. Thirdly, it took another two biologist to unravel the mystries via DNA and genetic analyses . This is pure taxonomy!

6. In those times, James Parham met with resistance and attacks from the professional taxonomists and the scientific fraternity, including an invitation to participate in a workshop was withdrawn. Now the journals which published those papers conducted some inquiries of their publications and about the dealer-supplied specimens to determine "if any fraudulent or illegally gathered data were unwittingly published".

7. Could this also had happened in the botanical world, especially in Orchidaceae, Palmae, Zingiberaceae and Araceae, among the most prized ornamental plants? That I knew were some new species of plants were described ex night markets, ex botanical gardens ex private collections and probably ex botanical piracy!