Anchoring Biodiversity Information: From Sherborn to the 21st century and beyond

Submitted by Dave Roberts on Mon, 05/09/2011 - 12:37

 

 

Overview:

Charles Davies Sherborn provided the bibliographic foundation for current zoological nomenclature with his magnum opus Index Animalium. In the 43 years he spent working on this extraordinary resource, he anchored our understanding of animal diversity through the published scientific record. No work has equalled it since and it is still in current, and critical, use.

Until now, Sherborn’s contribution has been recognised by professional taxonomists worldwide but he has escaped the celebration of his accomplishment that is his due. We will hold a symposium in his honour in the 150th year of his birth here at the NHM, with an international panel of experts on bibliography and biodiversity bioinformatics, linking a view of the past with an active debate on the future of the related fields