New database collecting all species names

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org
New database collecting all species names 

Don't think this story has been mentioned here yet, but 
dinosaurs are included. The project should probably 
contact George! Here's the url plus a few key passages:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=02072002-033846-5544r

WOODS HOLE, Mass., July 2 (UPI) -- Researchers at the 
Universal Biological Indexer and Organizer Project are 
assembling a new digital database meant to serve as an 
online "tree of life," a catalog of all living things and 
the millions of names used to refer to them....
Over the centuries, an organism can accrue dozens of names 
for itself. For example, the species of dinosaur known as 
brontosaurus -- a name that was popularized by "The 
Flintstones" animated television series of the 1960s -- is 
now officially called apatosaurus....
"There's a huge problem in biology, not only with 
dinosaurs and fishes, but in all biology," Remsen 
explained. "They refer to (it) as 'the names problem' -- 
the names used to refer to organisms change over time, and 
you can easily miss information. Or you could have someone 
catch a fish in Australia, think it's a new species and 
name it only to find out it also lives somewhere else and 
has another name."