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cf. Neostylopyga propinqua?


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cf. means confer and is used when the taxonomy is in question. It does not mean you do not know the identity and are making an unsupported guess.

Wait, so am I interpreting this definition wrong?

From Wikipedia

"In biological naming conventions, cf. is variously used; commonly it is placed between the generic name and the specific nameto describe a specimen whose designation is uncertain because of practical difficulties such as poor preservation of the specimen. For example: Barbus cf. holotaenia implies that the specimen is believed to be Barbus holotaenia but the actual identification cannot be certain. The use of cf. in biological nomenclature expresses a possible identity, or at least a significant resemblance, such as between a newly observed specimen and a known species or taxon.[10] Such a usage might suggest a specimen's membership of the same genus or possibly of a shared higher taxon, such as in "Diptera: Tabanidae, cf. Tabanus" where the author is confident of the order Diptera and family Tabanidae, but can offer the genus Tabanus only as a suggestion, and has no information favouring a particular species."

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Wait, so am I interpreting this definition wrong?

From Wikipedia

"In biological naming conventions, cf. is variously used; commonly it is placed between the generic name and the specific nameto describe a specimen whose designation is uncertain because of practical difficulties such as poor preservation of the specimen. For example: Barbus cf. holotaenia implies that the specimen is believed to be Barbus holotaenia but the actual identification cannot be certain. The use of cf. in biological nomenclature expresses a possible identity, or at least a significant resemblance, such as between a newly observed specimen and a known species or taxon.[10] Such a usage might suggest a specimen's membership of the same genus or possibly of a shared higher taxon, such as in "Diptera: Tabanidae, cf. Tabanus" where the author is confident of the order Diptera and family Tabanidae, but can offer the genus Tabanus only as a suggestion, and has no information favouring a particular species."

I think you are missing what the definition you chose says. You are certainly missing its historic usage; cf. is almost certain or close to, not 'shot in the dark'. This new usage is a recent hobbyist fad and maybe it will change the actual meaning with time, but the old ? or ".." worked just as well and didn't trick the newbie into thinking it was a real identification.

That being said I would be very excited to see a good name on the African bullet (and that sounds like a cool name with a cool relative) but I have no data to suggest it is even in the genus Neostylopyga. Do you know of any papers supporting this guess?

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I think you are missing what the definition you chose says. You are certainly missing its historic usage; cf. is almost certain or close to, not 'shot in the dark'. This new usage is a recent hobbyist fad and maybe it will change the actual meaning with time, but the old ? or ".." worked just as well and didn't trick the newbie into thinking it was a real identification.

That being said I would be very excited to see a good name on the African bullet (and that sounds like a cool name with a cool relative) but I have no data to suggest it is even in the genus Neostylopyga. Do you know of any papers supporting this guess?

You can ask blatta70 for the description of N. propinqua. Description of that species fits well with our african bullet roaches (that's why I put "cf." as a prefix) :)

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You can ask blatta70 for the description of N. propinqua. Description of that species fits well with our african bullet roaches (that's why I put "cf." as a prefix) :)

By the definition you provided the cf. should precede the specific rather than the generic. I have seen the erroneous use pop up in different forums (one of the first by sellers trying to pass off totally unrelated Scolopendra as Scolopendra cf. giganteus which adds $300-400 to the value) but you are the first I've seen put it in front of the genus. :)
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By the definition you provided the cf. should precede the specific rather than the generic. I have seen the erroneous use pop up in different forums (one of the first by sellers trying to pass off totally unrelated Scolopendra as Scolopendra cf. giganteus which adds $300-400 to the value) but you are the first I've seen put it in front of the genus. :)

I guess it's not really an accurate way to put cf. as prefix for genera. I'll list this species as Neostylopyga cf. propinqua from now on.

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So if you research some apparently European sites they list the African bullet roach as Bantua robusta......?

They have misidentified it, Bantua robusta is a live bearing roach in a different family, these guys are egg layers.

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