Posted by:
WW
at Tue Nov 11 17:13:58 2003 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by WW ]
>>Curious as to the current status of E. beniensis. Has it been officially accepted as a valid species. Thanks,
There is no such thing as "official" acceptance - there is no "official" body that judges these things, and even though some checklists, such as the EMBL database and the "Snake Species of the World" book series, give the impression of being in some way "official", they are not.
Workers who have occasion to deal with a new species after its description have to decide whether they find the evidence presented to show that the new species really is a distinct biological entity convincing. If they do, they will accept the new species and include it in their work, if not, then they won't. Thus, a consensus is gradually built up, until the next revision of the group.
In the case of Eunectes beniensis, there is evidence from a number of characters, recorded as part of the first major revision of the anacondas for 50 or so years, that suggests that it is a distinct anaconda, so personally, I would have no problem accepting it.
Cheers,
Wolfgang
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RE: Eunectes beniensis - WW, Tue Nov 11 17:13:58 2003