On Thu, May 19, 2011 at 11:36 AM, bulborum botanicum <bulborum@gmail.com>wrote: > me and my customers don't understand to many changes back and forward > Roland, The changes come about because we were able to gather more data, mostly due to new technology. In the last 20 years, we have been able to sequence single genes, which gave us a lot more information (10-100x more data) to work with compared to the morphological characters that we have been seeing since the time of Linnaeus. Now and in the next 10 years, we have the technology to sequence whole genomes which could contain about 30,000 genes in each plant. This is 30,000x more data than we have 20 years ago, so naturally the ideas of what it takes to make a species also changes. Taxonomic changes don't happen just because someone decide that it's better, they are supported by evidence. With good evidence the name sticks around longer. How we understand the natural world has always revolved around technology. Nhu -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/xerantheum/