Forlagets egne opplysninger
A comprehensive work covering the about 100,000 species of Coleoptera known to occur in the Palaearctic Region. The complete work is planned for 8 volumes that will be published with intervals of about 18 months. The information provided for each species will be the following: Primary taxonomic information of all available names in the genus and species levels published by the end of 1999. The taxonomic information below subfamily will be organized alphabetically. The type species of genera and subgenera, incl. synonyms, are given. The area covered includes also the Arabian Peninsula, Himalayas and China. The distributional data of species and subspecies is given per country. Detailed distributional information for strict endemics is given. Introduced species are
indicated.
The catalogue is a collective work of about one hundred coleopterists from Europe, Japan, America and Australia.
Structured knowledge of life, as it evolved and is present on
our planet, requires information on past taxonomic acts. They are also essential in achieving a universal language
in taxonomy that assures unambiguous transfer of biological information.
Erroneous information due to incorrect use of taxonomic names has an impact in many
fields, including genetics, physiology, ecology, plant protection, nature
conservation, and legislation.
Over the years, the Palaearctic Coleoptera have undoubtedly been
studied by more students that those of other parts of the world, and more than
representatives of most other orders of insects. It is therefore remarkable that an
overview of the present knowledge of the about 100,000 species of the
Palaearctic Coleoptera is badly lagging that of, e.g., the Nearctic Coleoptera, or
Palaearctic Diptera.
The aim of Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera is to provide a
tool that addresses the most urgent needs: 1) a list of available names, both valid
and invalid, of taxa occurring in the Palaearctic Region, in their verified original
orthography and with the correct publication dates, 2) a complete list of verified
references to primary descriptions, and 3) informative distributions of the species
and subspecies. Thus, the catalogue is expected to respond to questions related
to biodiversity, and to increase the badly needed nomenclatorial stability.
Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera is a collective work
involving many authors and will be published in eight volumes. Each volume will group
taxa with respect to the adopted classification, and will be
"independent", having its own reference section and Index.
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