Paleonet: Expressing uncertainty

[Allen Aigen]

Probably someone like Harry G. Lee, who is a stickler for following rules, should be asked (although I suspect he will answer soon.)  Anyway, I put the question mark after the questionable part of the name, whether Genus? species or Genus species?.  I think that a simple question mark covers all the second question too.  A note explaining your uncertainty would help.


From: Plotnick, Roy E
Sent: Tuesday, December 8, 2020 10:47 AM
To: PaleoNet
Subject: Paleonet: Expressing uncertainty

I have a specimen from a new locality that I can with some, but not complete certainty, assign to an existing species. In the Systematic Paleontology section of the paper, what is the best way to formally express this uncertainty?  Where does the “?” go?

While we are it , what is the current best practice for describing uncertainty of identification or taxonomic placement; i.e., what is the modern usage of .aff, .cf, ?, sp., incertae sedis, and so on.  Is there a standard reference on usage?
Thanks - Roy

Roy E. Plotnick
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