Nomenclature and the Codes - University of Connecticut

Nomenclature

* Codes ensure precise system of nam
* providing system of names that are
* Rules of Nomenclature given in Inte
* Separate codes for botany, zoology,

domesticated animals
* Phylocode has been proposed as alte

Linnaean nomenclature www.ohiou.
and clades (rankless; emphasis on st
* In the past (up till 1972) codes publi
- now task in zoology taken over by

International Union of Biological
- Zoological Commissions meet at I
Systematics and Evolutionary Biol

e and the Codes

ming and ranks
unique, stabile, and universal
ernational Codes
, microbiology, viruses, and

ernative (not a replacement) to
.edu/phylocode/ based on phylogeny
tability)
ished after an International Congress
y the General Assemblies of the
Sciences
ICSEB - International Congress of
logy

ICZN PRE

http://www.iczn.org

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature i
originally adopted by the International Congresses of
Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS).

The objects of the Code are to promote stability and u
to ensure that the name of each taxon is unique and d
are subservient to those ends and none restricts the fre

Priority of publication is a basic principle of zoologic
prescribed in the Code its application may be modifie
accustomed meaning. When stability of nomenclature
application of the Code may under specified condition
International Commission on Zoological Nomencla

Precision and consistency in the use of terms are esse
given to terms used in this Code are those shown in th
are integral parts of the Code's provisions.

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenc

EAMBLE

g/iczn/index.jsp

is the system of rules and recommendations
Zoology and, since 1973, by the International

universality in the scientific names of animals and
distinct. All its provisions and recommendations
eedom of taxonomic thought or actions.

cal nomenclature; however, under conditions
ed to conserve a long-accepted name in its
e is threatened in an individual case, the strict
ns be suspended by the
ature.

ential to a code of nomenclature. The meanings
he Glossary. Both this Preamble and the Glossary

clature is the author of the Code.

International Codes

Botany: http://ibot.sav
Zoology: http

* Articles with hundreds of provisions

* Rules: (strict) adherence is obligatory
- name or decision will be declared inval
- invalid or illegitimate publication à na
(nomina nuda)

* Recommendations: important suggesti
allowed

of Nomenclature

v.sk/icbn/main.htm
p://iczn.org/

lid if not followed
ame falls as a nomen nudum

ions, but for which exceptions are

International Codes

Botany: http://ibot.sa
Zoology: http

* Rules and Recommendations evolve
- what constitutes valid (legitimate) pub

Evolving areas
- electronic publication and cybertaxo
- plenary powers
- registration of names
- original orthography

s of Nomenclature

av.sk/icbn/main.htm
p://iczn.org/

e
blication is changing…

onomy is a frontier

International Code of Z

Chapters
* Criteria of Publication
* Criteria of Availability (Le
* Date of Publication
* Validity of Names and Nom
* Formation and Treatment o
* Taxa and Their Names
* Authorship
* Homonymy
* Types and Typification

Zoological Nomenclature

egitimacy)
menclatorial Acts
of Names

Purview of the codes (W

1) Priority
2) Stability
3) Typification
4) Homonymy
5) Synonymy

What we will review)

Names

* must be latinized
- can be an arbitrary combinat
- can be anagrams, e.g., Rifser
- Datana, Nadata, Natada

* uninomials for higher categori
* binomial for species
* hyphenation permitted

- should be grammatical agree
- discussion about this on AAZ
Zoological Nomenclature) pr

Appendices B, C, & D in ICZN C
about name formation
See Winston (1999). Describing S

s…

tions of letters: Zzyzx
ria, Friseria, and Sriferia

ies (are always plural)

ement between genus and species
ZN (American Association for
resently

Code provide useful information

Species. Columbia Univ. Press.

Names

A specific name ending in –i or –ii is a pat
for example, if you want to name a new sp
your boyfriend and his name is Alexander,

A specific name ending in –orum is a patro
for example, if you want to name a new sp
family and his family name is Goffinet, yo
goffinetorum.

A specific name ending in –ae is a matrony
for example, if you want to name a new w
favorite aunt and her name is Johana, you

A specific name ending in –ensis refers to
illinoiensis could be used for a species of f

s…

tronym, that is, a name honoring a man;
pecies of the fish genus Apogon after
, you would say Apogon alexanderi.

onym, that is, a name honoring a group;
pecies of Saturnia after your husband s
ou might use the name Saturnia

ym, that is, a name honoring a female;
willow of the genus Salix after your

might use Salix johanae.

a place, for example, Triticaphagus
flour beetle first found in Chicago.

My favorite recommendation from Zoo

D.I.5 A zoologist should not propose
suggests bizarre, comical, or otherwise

…but because this is only a recommen
(wonderful and not so wonderful) exce

ological Code:

e a name that, when spoken,
e objectionable meaning.

ndation there are, of course,
eptions

Reprinted from BOGUS Volumino Negatori Doso, pages 2

Funny or Curious Z
by Arnold S

USDA-SEL-ARS, U.S. Natio
Washington, D

(with additions by N

Family
Serendipidae Evenhuis, 1994 (fossil flies)

Genera
Aa Baker, 1940 (a mollusk)
Aaadonta Solem, 1976 (an endodontoid snail; see Zyzzyxdonta)
Abudefduf Forsskal, 1775 (a fish)
Aha Menke, 1977 (a wasp)
Alabama Grote, 1895 (a lepidopteran)
Aloha Kirkaldy, 1904 (a bug)
Arfia Van Valen, 1965 (a dog-like fossil hyaenodont)
Argentina Linnaeus, 1758 (a fish)
Ariaspis Denison, 1963 (a fossil fish)
Asia Pergens, 1887 (a coelenterate; nomen nudum)
Australia Girault, 1928 (a parasitic hymenopteran)
Babylonia Schlüter, 1838 (a mollusk)
Batman Whitley, 1956 (a fish)
Bugeranus Gloger, 1842 (a bird, the wattled crane)
Cannabis Blyth, 1850 (a bird)
Chaos Linnaeus, 1767 (a protozoan)
China Burr, 1899 (an orthopteran)

24-27. (April Fool's Day 1993)

Zoological Names
S. Menke

onal Museum NHB-168,
D.C. 20560
Neal L. Evenhuis)

Cuttysarkus Estes, 1964 (a fossil lizard)
Dasypops Miranda Ribeiro, 1924 (an amphibian)
Dyaria Neumoegen, 1893 (a moth)
Enema Hope, 1837 (a scarab beetle; see also under species!])
Inyoaster Phleger, 1936 (a starfish)
Iyaiyai Evenhuis, 1994 (a fossil fly)
Ninjameys Gaffney, 1992 (a fossil turtle) (Etymology: "Ninja, in
allusion to that totally rad, fearsome foursome epitomizing shelled
success; meys, turtle.")
Notoreas Meyrick, 1886 (a lepidopteran)
Ochisme Kirkaldy, 1904 (a bug) [also Polychisme, Dolichisme,
Peggichisme by the same author]
Oops Agassiz, 1846 (an arachnid)
Oops Germar, 1848 (a beetle; described after Agassiz had already
proposed Oops for an arachnid ... oops!)
Papa Reichenbach, 1850 (a bird)
Paratype Felder, 1874 (a lepidopteran)
Psorthaspis Banks, 1912 (a spider wasp with a painful sting!)
Samba Friese, 1908 (a bee)
Samoa Sörensen, 1886 (an arachnid)
Sayonara Jordan and Steele, 1906 (a fish)

Funny Sp

Agra sasquatch Erwin, 1982 (a carabid beetle with big feet)
Agra vation Erwin, 1983 (a carabid beetle)
Afropolonia tgifi Goff, 1983 (a chigger)
Aha ha Menke, 1977 (an Australian sphecid wasp; and also M
Aploparakis turdi Williamson and Rausch, 1965 (a cestode)
Apolysis humbugi (Evenhuis), 1985 (a bombyliid fly from H
Ba humbugi Solem, 1976 (a snail from Mba Island, Fiji)
Bla nini Inglis, 1963 (a marine nematode)
Brachyanax thelestrephones Evenhuis, 1981 (a fly; translate
Brachyta interrogationis interrogationis var. nigrohumerali
Bullisichthys caribbaeus Rivas, 1971 (a fish)
Cancelloidokytodermogammarus (Loveninsuskytodermoga
Castanea inca dincado Miller, 1972 (a moth)
Cavaticovelia aaa (Gagné and Howarth), 1975 (a bug; "aaa"
Cedusa medusa McAtee, 1924 (a bug)
Chaos chaos (Linnaeus), 1758 (a protozoan)
Chrysops asbestos Philip, 1950 (a horsefly collected from a m
Chrysops balzaphire Philip, 1955 (another horsefly)
Colon rectum Hatch, 1933 (a colonid beetle)
Dissup irae (Kovalev), 1989 (a "difficult to see" fossil fly)
Doryctes fartus Provancher, 1880 (a braconid wasp)
Enema pan (Fabricius), 1775 (a rhinoceros beetle)
Geoballus caputalbus Crabill, 1969 (a millipede named after
Gluteus minimus Davis and Semken, 1975 (a Devonian foss

pecies Names

Menke's car license plate number!)
Humbug Creek, California)
ed from the Greek it means "little chief nipple twister")
isscutellohumeroconjuncta Plavltstshikov, 1936 (a beetle)
ammarus) loveni Dybowski, 1926 (a crustacean)
" is Hawaiian for lava tube)
mule)

r its collectors, George Ball and Donald Whitehead)
sil of uncertain affinities)

Funny Sp

La cucuracha Blezynski, 1966 (a pyralid moth)
La paloma Blezynski, 1966 (another pyralid moth
Lalapa lusa Pate, 1946 (a tiphiid wasp)
Leonardo davincii Blezynski, 1965 (yet another p
Mastophora dizzydeani Eberhard, 1984 (a spider
catch its prey)
Montypythonoides riversleighensis Smith and Pla
Myzocallis kahawaluokalani Kirkaldy, 1907 (an
"you fish on your side of the lagoon and I'll fish o
Orgia nova Fitch, 1863 (a beetle)
Parastratiosphecomyia stratiosphecomyoides Bru
Phthiria relativitae Evenhuis, 1985 (a fly)
Pimeliaphilus podapolipophagus Tragardh, 1905
Pisolina yangwanggouensis Zhang and Wang, 19
Pison eu Menke, 1988 (a South American wasp)
Pison eyvae Menke, 1988 (a South American was
Polemistus chewbacca Menke, 1983 (a wasp; nam
Polemistus vaderi Menke, 1983 (a wasp; named a
Prolasioptera aeschynanthusperottetii Mani, 194
Reissa roni Evenhuis, 2002 ( a microbombyliid fl

pecies Names

h)

pyralid moth)
that uses a sticky ball on the end of a thread to

ane, 1985 (a fossil snake)
aphid; in Hawaiian, the name supposedly means
on the other, and no one will fish in the middle")

unetti, 1923 (a fly)

5 (an acarine)
974 (a fossil foram)

sp)
med after the "Star Wars" character)
after another "Star Wars" character)
43 (a cecidomyiid fly)
ly)

PRIORIT

* Governing principal of all codes is pr
* Based on absolute date of publication

- establishing date of publication may
- sometimes difficult to determine
e.g., Hübner's genera (took a four-vo
straighten out publication dates for H
- use [] s if you are unsure or date is i
- be forewarned that date on binding o
correspond with actual date of publicati
* many journals are chronical behind
* (historically) watch out especially

e.g., journals ran up to two years b

TY

riority
n (actual date of receipt in libraries)
y difficult

olume work by Francis Walker to
Hübner s catalog names)
inferred, [Hübner 1818-1820]
or cover page sometimes does not
ion
d; especially last number in volume
during wartime periods
behind during Civil War

* Pr
no

* Pri
fa
do
fa

* pri
ca

* zo
wi
(be
bin

* pri
(up
we

riority is the cornerstone of
omenclature
iority applies to species, generic, and
amily group names (zoological code
oes not regulate names above the
amily level)
iority a recommendation for higher
ategories

oological literature starts ca.1758
ith the 10th ed. of Systema Naturae
ecause earlier editions were not strictly
nomial) (actually a 1757 spider work)
ior to 1758 names were polynomials
p to a dozen words; many more or less
ere diagnoses)

Stability: refers to the issue of na
Classic example: Apatosaurus and

Conservation of names: sometim
(more recent), but widely used na
- cases referred to International C

Nomenclature or Committee on
- a judiciary panel of some 30 peo
- Article 81: the plenary powers

ame usage and changes
d Brontosaurus

mes exceptions are made for younger
ames.
Commission on Zoological
n Nomenclature for botanical name
ople
(on behalf of stability)

Article 81. Use of the Plenary Power.

81.1. Purpose and extent. The Comm
[Article 78.1], on due notice as presc
the application of provisions of the C
application would in its judgment dis
cause confusion. For the purpose of p
promoting a stable and universally ac
use of its plenary power, conserve, to
suppress, or give a specified preceden
type fixation or other nomenclatural a
establish replacements.

r.

mission has the plenary power
cribed by its Constitution, to modify
Code to a particular case, if such
sturb stability or universality or
preventing such disturbance and of
ccepted nomenclature, it may, by
otally, partially or conditionally
nce to, or make available any name,
act, or any publication, and

In the 1920s, amphipod researcher B
many descriptors together that his na
letters. Yanega translates Dybowski's
Gammaracanthuskytodermogammar
"amphipod with hollow spines on its
the names did follow the rules, the co
names invalid because they proved so

From: http://findarticles.com/p/article
ai_75563131

Benedykt Dybowski crowded so
ames stretched out for several dozen
s polysyllabic horror
rus loricatobaicalensis as

skin from Lake Baikal." Although
ommission decreed all Dybowski's
o unwieldy.

es/mi_m1200/is_21_159/

To suppress an older name require
- thoughtful and documented pe
- often with letters of endorseme
- petition published in Bulletin o
- rebuttals follow
- commission is a conservative l
(who hold priority as the corn

- 50 year rule often implemente
- helps show that older name ha
over past 50 years younger nam
- at least10 authors and appeare

es formal application to ICZN
etition
ent
of Zool. Nomenclature

lot of old _________
nerstone)

ed see page (formal or informal)
as not been used for 50 years and
me has been used by
ed in 25 publications….

The recent furore concerning
Drosophila melanogaster offers a good
example. Drosophila includes about
1500 known species, with many more
yet to be named. With increasing
knowledge of their interrelationships
based on biochemistry, morphology,
development, physiology, ecology and
behaviour, the time has more or less
come when it is possible to divide this
huge assemblage, currently one of the
largest animal genera, into smaller
generic units. Unfortunately the type
species of Drosophila is not THE fruitfly,
D. melanogaster Meigen, innumerable
millions of which have been gainfully
sacrificed in the cause of genetics. Far
worse is the realisation that the actual
type species is remote from
melanogaster within the omnibus genus.

Excerpt from Vane-Wright, R. I. 2011. ICZN – an In

If and when Drosophila is split, the
species name melanogaster will be
recombined with another generic name
– most probably the existing subgeneric
name Sophophora, of which D.
melanogaster is the type species, to
become Sophophora melanogaster
(Meigen).
Alert to this possibility, in 2007 a
group of seven Drosophila researchers
put forward a case to the Commission
requesting that the current type species
designation for Drosophila be set aside
and replaced by D. melanogaster. The
proposal gave rise to heated debate, for
and against, with many good arguments
on both sides. Finally, in autumn 2009,
the 28 ICZN Commissioners were
asked to cast their votes: 4 were in
favour, 23 against, with one unavailable
(Opinion 2245, 2010).

ncreasing Concern for Zoological Nomenclature?

Types and T

* Types are the "name bearers" for all
* The type is the legal device anchorin

- allows certain understanding of an
- explicit rules about types and their
* Types of species are specimens
* Types of genera and families are nam
* Two ways of describing a type for a
- description of an individual or
- description of a series (and renderi

concept of species)
* Types must always be checked in rev

and other nomenclatorial matters
* Locating types can be one of the mos

frustrating aspects of a revisionary st
- makes revisionary taxonomy diffic
lesser resources

Typification

formally named taxa
ng each name to an unequivocal entity
author's species concept
deposition in newest code

mes
species

ing of author's

visionary studies

st expensive, time consuming, and
tudy
cult for many students and those with



http://insects.oeb.harvard.edu/mcz/





Name-bea

1) Holotype: the single specimen desig
description

2) Lectotype: the single specimen desi
the type series (syntypes or co-type

3) Neotype: if no type or member of th
be designated
- Ex., Gracillaria ribesella, a moth
(presently an ichnotaxon, i.e., an a
tracing, nest, etc.)

à refer also to your handout
à other types have no legal standing exce

Wikipedia has a helpful treatment of comm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_(biology

aring Types

gnated by the author, at the time of

ignated by a subsequent worker from
es)
he type genus remains a neotype may

h, described from its larval leaf roll
animal named from its droppings,

ept if name-bearing type is lost

mon types
y)

Name-bea

1) Holotype: the single specimen desig
description

2) Lectotype: the single specimen desi
the type series (syntypes or co-type

3) Neotype: if no type or member of th
be designated
- Ex., Gracillaria ribesella, a moth
(presently an ichnotaxon, i.e., an a
tracing, nest, etc.)

à refer also to your handout
à other types have no legal standing exce

Wikipedia has a helpful treatment of comm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_(biology

aring Types

gnated by the author, at the time of

ignated by a subsequent worker from
es)
he type genus remains a neotype may

h, described from its larval leaf roll
animal named from its droppings,

ept if name-bearing type is lost

mon types
y)

Neotype De

* When type either missing or too dam
* Two options

(1) choose a likely candidate just to p
- often hard to prove actual identi
species
- some workers will simply find a
neotype to be done with the name

(2) can leave as nomen dubium, nome

esignations

maged

pin down a name
ity of dubious/inadequately described

a species that is close and designate a
e
en inquirendum