種分類学の位置(第1回日本動物分類学会賞受賞記念論文)

抄録

Taxonomists contribute to science in three ways, viz., recognizing taxa, classifying taxa, and integrating biological knowledge of taxa. Generally, the recognition of taxa is made first at the species level. However, taxonomic study at the species level is often regarded as merely descriptive and is not considered a study utilizing the so-called "hypothesis-testing" process. The latter style of study is considered, and referred to, as "true" science by most biologists. For this reason, biologists working in other disciplines sometimes do not regard taxonomy as a science, and this results in a poor reputation for taxonomy by other biologists. Taxonomy however is a science based on the hypothesis-testing process, in spite of the fact that a large number of pages in taxonomic papers are dedicated to the description of the taxa. If you wonder whether a specimen before you belongs to a described species or not, you might consider a hypothesis that the specimen is an undescribed species. Then, you would start to test this hypothesis using comparative morphology, species distribution data, or any other tools available. You may observe the specimen, describe it morphologically, and compare it with other related species. If decide that it is an undescribed species, you give it a name and finally publish a paper with the description. Now, it is apparent that the hypothesis-testing process is used before the description of the species, and therefore, the taxonomic study at the species level is just as scientific as other disciplines of biology. In one respect however there is a basic difference between the taxonomic study at the species level and biology of other fields. The taxonomists discover species, and then the biologists of other fields do their own research based on the species found by the taxonomists. In this sense, the taxonomy at the species level is fundamental, and the other disciplines of biology are derivative. The derivative studies could not be conducted if there were no outcomes from the fundamental biology, whereas the fundamental studies are possible without the derivative studies.