Three non-existent Leiopython species.
Taxonomic Vandalism of the worst form.
In 2008, an amateur snake handler, Wulf Schleip decided to invent 3 species of python in a paper he published in a journal in a place in which he was an editor. Bypassing any credible peer review or quality control, he falsely claimed he had DNA evidence in support of his new species, when in fact he did not. His paper was an example of the evidence-free taxonomy that pollutes zoology and potentially endangers species by wasting the time of others who are diverted to clean up the taxonomic and nomenclatural mess he has created.
More significantly, after the fraud of Schleip was exposed by the globally recognized herpetologist Raymond Hoser, Wulf Schleip and associates, Wolfgang Wuster and Mark O’Shea embarked on a hate campaign against Hoser, falsely accusing him of the very dishonesty, fraud and misconduct Schleip himself had been engaged in.
This included hate articles in so-called journals which they edited or had editorial control, in order to bypass any credible review or quality control, as well as online campaigns on Facebook and internet forums, including the liberal use of bogus accounts and the like.
The details of Schleip’s original fraud in terms of the invention of three non-existent species can be found in the paper:
Creationism and contrived science: A review of recent python systematics papers and the resolution of issues of taxonomy and nomenclature. Australasian Journal of Herpetology 2 (2009):1-34.
Available online here:
http://www.smuggled.com/AJHI2.pdf