Navigating the Ship of Theseus from typology to cartography

Abstract

Taxonomy is the business of describing and naming organismal diversity. What that means exactly must shift as our conceptual framework shifts (as it did during the time of Darwin) and as what we are able to see shifts as a result of technological assists. We are at a moment of profound conceptual and technological change. Here I give some personal thoughts on three top questions in taxonomy. Are traditional naming conventions compatible with massive cryptic genetic discontinuity? Can we agree on what we are delimiting and naming?  Can we excite public interest without typology?