Case 3600 A proposal to reinstate as available the species-group names proposed for Devonian ammonoids (Mollusca, Cephalophoda) by Sobolew (1914a, 1914b)

Abstract

The purpose of this application, under Article 81.1 of the Code, is to conserve current usage of ammonoid specific names that have been widely used by palaeontologists and stratigraphers for almost a century even though these names were established in a work placed on the Official Index of Rejected and Invalid Works in Zoological Nomenclature by Direction 32. This direction followed Opinion 132, in which the genus-group names (Gattungsbezeichnungen) established by Sobolew (1914a, 1914b) were considered to be formulae and not available generic names. However, Opinion 132 included no ruling on the specific names established in the same papers and some of these names have continued to be used in publications and databases. It is requested that the Commission reinstate the availability of Sobolew's species-group names published in the rejected work for the sake of nomenclatural stability. The spelling umbilifer Sobolew, 1914a is selected in this paper as the correct original spelling over umbiliferum under Article 24.2.3 of the Code.