Expected exactly what kind of reaction? Nothing I wrote above is knee-jerk nor is it accusatory. I did not put any words into your mouth, nor have I anywhere expressed an opinion on the matter of whether it is a separate species, either. And nothing was fired at you specifically.
However, taxonomists have declared this fish a separate species, and until they declare it something else, it remains a separate species. It is only a classification for convenience and really doesn't make that much difference in the grand scheme of things. I personally don't care. I don't have a horse in the race.
All I said was that the statements you claim are false were not flagged as errors by Dr. Endler, who saw those statements in the manuscript I passed across his desk and was ultimately published in Livebearers. The statements in the WetWebMedia article are unchanged from that version, except that the people involved with the classification was shortened from a list of names to "Endler and others." If you find that misleading, I apologize.
That said, Endler did not deny his involvement with the classification system, nor did he say anything about Rosen classifying the fish as a guppy. In fact, he provided me with documentation consistent with what I wrote:
Endler, John A. "Integrative Commentary on Evolution and Ecology of Poeciliid Fishes." Ecology and Evolution of Poeciliid Fishes. Evans, Pilastro, and Schlupp, eds. University of Chicago Press, 2011.
Quote:
At the time I thought that they were very different from guppies and gave them to Dr. Donn E. Rosen, of the American Museum of Natural History, to describe. Although he died before having a chance to describe them...
Additionally, the statement about the name Endler's Livebearer being a "surprise for Professor Endler" was inserted into my manuscript by Dr. Endler himself and therefore I was not about to remove it.
It comes down to this. I consulted with Professor Endler and with AdrianHD. Where they disagreed on information, I excluded it. Where the agreed, I included it.
If the truth is different from what I wrote and what these two men do not dispute, then somebody who was present and involved needs to publish the truth because it ain't out there right now.
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