Hi Tweets,

James West writes:

>Unfortunately, that scenario [deliberate release of extralimital species
for rarity-listing motives] does have a non-negligible probability of its
>own....There was also a similar case some time ago in the
>British papers, where the perpetrator finally drew attention to himself by
>the regularity, as well as the extreme rarity, of his "finds".

There was the case of the 'Hastings Rarities' about the turn of the century.
Sorry, can't remember details but more than a few 'First Records' for
Britain and the rest of Europe had to be tossed when the fraudster was
exposed in all his sleazy glory.

Since there's historical precedent, and since rarity-hunting has so often
been so competitive and associated with large amounts of ego-investment,
communal status, and, equally often, need for recognition and attention,
it's not unreasonable to consider 'salting' a possibility if out-of-pattern
unlikelihood piled on out-of-pattern unlikelihood eventually make one's
instinctual antennae begin to twitch. To be fair, it's only one of several
possibilities (the evolution of a new pattern, for example), but how one
would go about exploring the forensics of such a dishonorable situation is
beyond me; the psychology, alas, is all too clear.

Michael Price A brave world, Sir,
Vancouver BC Canada full of religion, knavery and change;
mprice at mindlink.net we shall shortly see better days.
Aphra Behn (1640-1689)