Why Do Taxonomists Write the Meanest Obituaries? (2016)
nautil.us
nautil.us
>The species problem is the set of questions that arises when biologists attempt to define what a species is. Such a definition is called a species concept; there are at least 26 recognized species concepts
But it's very tricky. On the opposite side from the theoretical/philosophical considerations of what entities participating in the evolutionary process should have what names, there are extremely valid pragmatic considerations: if we are to save habitat and certain lineages then it's helpful to just agree on the damn name and get on with the difficult work of conservation biology which is conducted in the world of human politics, not the pages of a systematics journal. And in fact in many cases it will help the survival of a geographically isolated lineage to err in the direction of "splitting" it out as a separate species, regardless of pointy-headed academic considerations.
(I'm the primary author.)
Amusing, but it's not really surprising that people who are attracted to that sort of thing would get stroppy about sloppy work. Actually, organized armies on opposing sides of some contentious bone would not be far-fetched ...
Reminds me of a book about musical invective I've lost somewhere.