Assessing taxon names in palynology (I): working with databases

Abstract

An overview of the history of a taxon name and its current status are critical in taxonomy; and selecting the correct name from among synonyms is commonly important in applied studies. This often onerous task can be facilitated by working with databases that can be used to develop an overview of the number of species within a genus as well as their spatial and temporal distributions and their frequency of use. For example, a quantitative analysis of the use of competing names can inform formal proposals to conserve, protect, or reject names. Currently, palynologists can consult two extensive databases, Palynodata and the John Williams Index of Palaeopalynology, both of which were discontinued, in 2006 and 2015, respectively. As new data accumulates, analyses require augmentation from uncurated online resources such as Google Scholar. Here, we conducted a case study for four Mesozoic genera relevant for example in studying the Triassic–Jurassic transition in the Germanic Basin. The genera contain a total of 65 species. The study compared the output from the two databases of references and an online source for the species inventory over time by analysing more than 2000 citations and their cross-occurrences. We found that the John Williams Index is the most accurate and extensive, but it can only be consulted in person in London. Palynodata, available as a dataset or online, is the more accessible source of information. Our study also shows that no significant difference results from whether one combines the John Williams Index or Palynodata with Google Scholar since using any two of these sources provide a recovery of at least 75% of all citations compared to using all three. In conclusion, each database has its own advantages and disadvantages, and when working under time pressure, the choice of database depends on the research question asked.

Keywords:

• Taxonomy
• Palynodata
• John Williams Index of Palaeopalynology

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to Stephen Stukins (Natural History Museum London) and Niall Paterson (CASP, Cambridge) for sharing information on the JWIP cards. The Trustees of the Natural History Museum (London) are thanked for permission to reproduce the JWIP cards illustrated herein. Furthermore, we thank Maria Schauer for her diligent help with compiling part of the dataset. JG thanks Wolfram Kürschner (University of Oslo, Norway), who organised a visit to the Geological Survey of Austria, which brought her for the first time in contact with type material and associated challenges that inspired this paper. RAF acknowledges support of the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), Natural Resources Canada and thanks Robert Courtney for his internal GSC review and discussion: this is NRCan Contribution number 20210429. We thank young artist Lena Gravendyck who provided the illustrations for taxa used in Figure 1(A). We also want to thank Susanne Flach (University of Zürich). As a linguistic lecturer with a special focus on corpus methods, she inspired the first author during her philological studies, leaving her with a lasting impression that changed her perspective on language, its semantic units and their role as agents in our (scientific) communication. Additionally, we thank Annette Götz and an anonymous reviewer for their constructive input and suggestions which significantly improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julia Gravendyck

JULIA GRAVENDYCK is a palynologist and botanist at the Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany. She gained her MSc in 2016 at the Freie Universität Berlin (FU) in biology, specialising in biodiversity, ecology and evolution working on the palynology of the Carnian Stage for a pilot project on carbon capture and storage. In 2021 Julia obtained her doctoral degree at the FU for her palynological work on the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. Julia is currently working mainly on terrestrial Mesozoic palynology with special regard to early angiosperm pollen, integrating her botanical and biological perspective with palaeontology. She is involved in projects on palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, vegetation dynamics, teratology, stratigraphy and taxonomy in the Triassic of Germany and Lower Cretaceous of Portugal. Julia is a past Student Director-at-Large of AASP – The Palynological Society, and currently serves on the Board of CPS – Collegium Palynologicum Scandinavicum and AASP – The Palynological Society as Director-at-Large.

Robert A. Fensome

ROBERT A. FENSOME is a research scientist with the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), part of the federal department of Natural Resources Canada, in their Atlantic Division at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. During his 36-year tenure at the GSC, Rob has focussed mainly on Mesozoic and Cenozoic dinoflagellate cysts from offshore eastern Canada, but is now venturing into projects involving assemblages from north-western and Arctic Canada. While his mandate has involved primarily biostratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental studies, he also has a strong interest in dinoflagellate taxonomy and evolution, miospore taxonomy and geological outreach, co-authoring and co-editing two books for a general audience, one on the geology of Canada and one on the geology of Canada’s Maritime Provinces.

Clément Coiffard

CLÉMENT COIFFARD is a botanist at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. He obtained his doctoral degree in 2006 at the Lyon I university on the evolution of European vegetation during the Cretaceous with Bernard Gomez. After his PhD, Clément worked on the systematics and phylogeny of Cretaceous tropical early angiosperms. Later, he worked on Upper Cretaceous tropical vegetation, including fieldwork in Sudan. He is involved in projects on taxonomy, phylogeny, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, vegetation dynamics in the Cretaceous of Europe, Brazil and northeastern Africa.

Julien B. Bachelier

JULIEN B. BACHELIER is a professor of Botany and group leader at the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. His curiosity for taxonomy started during his education at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris, when he thought he could revise the genus Cupressus during his Diploma. Quickly realizing this would never happen, the interest survived even after he moved into comparative structural studies. Under the supervision of Peter Endress and William (Ned) Friedman, he specialized in flower structure and development and in embryology, and their implications for the systematics and evolution of flowering plants.