Dan
How is a deposited vocal recording 123 of Scytalopus sp, specimen no, XYZ going to be repeatable? Am I supposed to take on trust that specimen No XYZ did indeed make the vocals attributed to it in recording 123. How is that repeatable at the level of the individual?
If you then argue this could be replicated by sampling the population, then that is surely the same as a repeat of the Sparrow study, using different individuals?
cheers, alan
You make a good point Alan. There is a degree of faith we all need to place in the accuracy of what is said in scientific publications. But in your Scytalopus example, one can review the evidence and test the conclusions the authors present. In the sparrow example, one would have to start from scratch and see if one could reconstruct the entire study. There is a difference. So my question to you is: which study would you put more faith in and adjust your checklist by? Or are they the same in your eyes?