The Linz Zoocode project. Seventh report of activities (2025). Comments on the “significant challenges” for zoological nomenclature listed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Six Articles from Chapters 1, 2 and 4 of the Code

THE International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature announces its intention of publishing at an early date a revised and up-to-date edition (1) of the "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature" and (2) of the "Official List of Generic Names in Zoology". The last edition of the English text of "The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature" was published some years before the War and is now out of date for various reasons, including the adoption by the International Congress of Zoology of changes in some of the Articles in the International Code. The revised edition will consist of the substantive French text (on left-hand pages) and the English translation (on right-hand pages). The volume, which will be fully indexed, will also contain a detailed analysis of all the "Opinions" so far rendered by the International Commission in regard to the interpretation of the provisions of the Code. "The Official List of Generic Names in Zoology" was established by the International Congress of Zoology at its meeting at Monaco in 1913 for the purpose of recording full particulars relating to the names of the 5,000–10,000 best known and most important genera in the animal kingdom with their type species. So far, however, only about seven hundred names have been placed on the "Official List", due largely to the fact that the decisions taken by the International Commission have never hitherto been brought together in a single volume and with a full index. It is hoped that the "Official List" will now develop into a powerful instrument for stabilizing zoological nomenclature. It is hoped that its publication in book form will stimulate specialists to make proposals for the addition of other generic names important not only in systematic zoology but also in the applied sciences and in the teaching of zoology at the universities.

Zoological nomenclature is the obligate medium by which we communicate taxonomic information, and a series of precise nomenclatural rules are designed to minimize confusion and ambiguity. The longest used, internationally applicable system of nomenclature is “Linnaean Nomenclature” (LN) (Polaszek & Wilson 2005), which has provided a stable platform capable of simultaneously designating discrete taxa and conveying their phylogenetic relationships, through the use of scientific names (nomina; Dubois 2000). Precise adherence to the rules of nomenclature as defined by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is all the more important today when zoologists have millions of taxa to name. The recent importation of exogenous practices into LN is both confusing and inacceptable under the rules of the ICZN. Such practices include the use of a prefix Pan- in the family-series nomenclature. The nomenclature of all taxa from rank subspecies to superfamily is regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN Code; Anonymous 1999). This means that all zoologists who endorse LN should use nomina complying with the rules of the ICZN Code for taxa of all ranks, including those from superfamily to subtribe and additional intermediate ranks of the nominal family group, also called family-series. However, some recent publications using LN do not follow the ICZN Code in several respects, concerning in particular (1) the rules of formation of nomina and (2) their authorship and date. Recent articles involving fossil birds (Smith 2011, 2013; Smith & Mayr 2013), explicitly or implicitly following the ICZN Code, illustrate both problems, representative of these recent practices. We wish to emphasize that our comments are in no way criticisms directed toward the core information of these studies, otherwise extremely useful, but rather a more general and formal invitation to follow more closely the ICZN Code. We found few other published examples of similar practice concerning birds (“Pan-Apodidae” in Mayr & Manegold 2002, also used by Ksepka et al. 2013; “Pan-Trochilidae” in Mayr & Manegold 2002 and Mayr 2007; “Pan-Hemiprocnidae” in Mayr & Manegold 2002; for articles published in a LN frame). We use hereafter the “Pan-Alcidae” example.

Journal of Eukaryotic MicrobiologyVolume 65, Issue 2 p. 290-290 CorrigendumFree Access Corrigendum to ″Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) by Foissner et al. 2014″ This article corrects the following: Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha) Wilhelm Foissner, Sabine Filker, Thorsten Stoeck, Volume 61Issue 1Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology pages: 61-74 First Published online: December 10, 2013 First published: 20 November 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12481AboutSectionsPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat In the article: Foissner, W., Filker, S., and Stoeck T. 2014. Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the Molecular Sister of the Large Oxytrichid Clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha). J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 61(1): 61–74. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12087, the ZooBank registration number was omitted. Foissner et al. (2014) described the morphology, ontogeny, and phylogeny of a new Schmidingerothrix species in this electronic-only journal. Since the electronic article does not contain ZooBank registration, it is not published (available) with respect to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999, 2012, Articles 8.5, 9.11). However, such work likely remains available as source for further purposes, similar to a suppressed work (ICZN 1999, Article 8.7.1). To become available, Schmidingerothrix salinarum must be registered in ZooBank (ICZN 2012). ZooBank registration http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:33751519-8DAB-42CD-814E-C72926D5E39F Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. (Table 2 and Fig. 1A–L, 2A–M, 3A–D, 4A–H, 5, 6A–F, 7A–I, 8A–D in Foissner et al. 2014) Diagnosis (from Foissner et al. 2014, p. 73). Size in vivo about 95 × 17 μm. Body slender (~5.5:1), usually widest in mid-portion, with short but distinct tail. Four macronuclear nodules, forming a series near right margin of cell; zero to two micronuclei. Cortical granules in loose rows, colorless, about 1 μm across. Three frontal cirri and three frontoventral cirral rows. Frontal cirrus 1 subapical close to ventral part of adoral zone of membranelles. Frontoventral row 1 composed of an average of four cirri; row 2 of 18 cirri; row 3 of five cirri. Right marginal row composed of an average of 23 cirri, left of 17. Adoral zone about 32% of body length, composed of an average of three frontal and 21 ventral membranelles. Endoral membrane 12 μm long on average. Type locality. Solar saltern in the Ria Formosa National Park near to the town of Faro, Portugal, W7°57′41.0684″, N37°00′29.4851″. Type material. The holotype slide and two paratype slides with protargol-impregnated specimens and two paratype slides with hematoxylin-stained cells have been deposited in the Biologiezentrum of the Oberösterreichische Landesmuseum in Linz (LI), Austria, reg. no. 2013/33–37. Relevant specimens have been marked by black ink circles on the coverslip. Etymology. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 74). Morphology of Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 63, Table 2, and Fig. 1A–L, 2A–M, 3A–D, 4A–H). Molecular phylogeny. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014). GenBank accession number. KC991098 (SSU rDNA; length 1,769 bp; GC content 45.11%). Ontogenesis of Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. See same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 67 and Fig. 6A–F, 7A–H, 8A–D). Discussion. For comparison of Schmidingerothrix salinarum Foissner et al., 2017 with S. extraordinaria Foissner, 2012, type of the genus, see same section in Foissner et al. (2014, p. 72). Remarks: In future, this species has to be cited as “Schmidingerothrix salinarum Foissner, Filker & Stoeck, 2017” (for justification, see introduction). Literature Cited Foissner, W. 2012. Schmidingerothrix extraordinaria nov. gen., nov. spec., a secondarily oligomerized hypotrich (Ciliophora, Hypotricha, Schmidingerotrichidae nov. fam.) from hypersaline soils of Africa. Eur. J. Protistol., 48: 237– 251. Foissner, W., Filker, S. & Stoeck, T. 2014. Schmidingerothrix salinarum nov. spec. is the molecular sister of the large oxytrichid clade (Ciliophora, Hypotricha). J. Eukaryot. Microbiol., 61: 61– 74. ICZN (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, London, 306 p. ICZN (International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) 2012. Amendment of Articles 8, 9, 10, 21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature to expand and refine methods of publication. Bull. Zool. Nom., 69: 161– 169. Volume65, Issue2March/April 2018Pages 290-290 ReferencesRelatedInformation

In September 2012, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 2012) published an amendment of Articles 8, 9, 10, 21 and 78 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 1999) to allow electronic publication in zoological nomenclature and taxonomy (see also Zhang 2012). Late last year, a paper in Zootaxa (Dubois et al. 2013) reviewed some of the problems related to electronic publication of zoological nomenclature and taxonomy, and in turn evoked rapid reactions from Nature (Anonymous 2013) and BMC (Harold et al. 2013). This issue of Zootaxa contains a response to Dubois et al. (2013) from the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 2014), and a formal response from the editors of BMC (Moylan et al. 2014). Zootaxa is pleased to provide a forum for discussions of this type, and encourages debate on issues important in zoological nomenclature and taxonomy (Zhang 2007).

The eumenine genus Ancistroceroides is reported from the southwestern United States; the genus is otherwise neotropical. Two new species are described: Ancistroceroides evansi Carpenter from Texas and Mexico, and A. levis Carpenter from Arizona. Ancistroceroides cordovae Carpenter is proposed as a replacement name for A. conspicuus (de Saussure) non Smith. New combinations are: A. acuminatus (Brethes), A. domingensis (Bequaert and Salt), A. erythraeus (Brethes), A. fabienii (Brethes), A. gribodoi (Zavattari), A. mearimensis (Zavattari), A. schulzi (Zavattari), A. sylveirae (de Saussure), and A. venustus (Brethes). A new key to the genera of Wasps of the vespid subfamily Eumeninae are commonly known as potter wasps, after the elegant pot-shaped mud nests made by species of the genus Eumenes Latreille, 1802, and related taxa. There have been 294 species recorded from America North of Mexico, plus another four unrecognized (as well as 79 additional subspecies, most of which should be synonymized; see Carpenter, 1988, 2003). As elsewhere in the world, the subfamily thus comprises most of the diversity in the Vespidae: 363 total species in five subfamilies have been recorded from this area. The key to North American eumenine genera by Carpenter and Cumming (1985) included 26 known at that time; subsequently Menke and Stange (1986) reported two invasive genera established in Florida. The present paper adds another genus. The genus Ancistroceroides de Saussure, 1855, has had a turbulent taxonomic history, even for eumenine genera. It was originally described as a division of the subgenus Ancistrocerus Wesmael, 1836, of the genus Odynerus Latreille in de Saussure's worldwide monograph of Vespidae, which was published in parts from 1852-1858 (see Griffin, 1939). At the time the name was proposed there were four included species. Bequaert (1925:61) subsequently designated as type species Odynerus cruentus de Saussure, 1855; the genus was otherwise ignored. When van der Vecht (1967) requested that de Saussure's infrasubgeneric eumenine names be declared available by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature from their date of publication (editions of the Code of Zoological Nomenclature prior to 1985 did not treat such names as available), he followed that type species designation, and Opinion 893 (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1970) accordingly did as well. However, van der Vecht later determined that O. cruentus is a species of the Australian genus Paralastor de Saussure, 1856, which has been treated as a genus since Perkins (1914), and currently includes 138 species. In order to avoid setting aside the name Paralastor in favor of Ancistroceroides, van der Vecht (1983) requested that the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature set aside Bequaert's designation, and designate as type species Odynerus alastoroides de Saussure,

Zoological and palaeontological nomenclature: their regulation by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

The PhyloCode: naming of biodiversity at a crossroads

Márquez & Asiain (2010) described three new species of the Philonthus furvus species group: P. navarretei and P. pollens from Mexico, and P. rufotibialis from Mexico and Guatemala. They also provided new state and locality records for P. hoegei, P. testaceipennis and P. yaqui, as well as a key for the identification of the species. In this work (Márquez & Asiain 2010) the depositories of the type material and material examined were indicated, except for the holotype of P. navarretei. Based on article 16 (names published after 1999) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999), which indicates that species names must be accompanied by the explicit fixation of a holotype (16.4.1), a statement of intent that this will be deposited in a collection and a statement indicating the name and location of that collection (16.4.2), the species name is considered as an "unavailable name". Navarrete-Heredia & Newton (2013) placed P. navarretei Márquez & Asiain, 2010 as a nomen nudum because the term "nomen nudum" is often used loosely for names that do not meet one or more of the conditions necessary for availability in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

A group of 19 authors (Dubois et al. 2013) recently raised concerns about the latest Amendment to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN 2012a,b,c), that allows new names and other nomenclatural acts to gain legislative acceptance (become “available”) from publications issued and distributed electronically. Two editorials by publishers have already responded to some of the concerns (Anonymous 2013, Harold et al. 2013); some others will be dealt with here. Technological advances in electronic scientific communication have had a dramatic effect on scientific research and publication in recent years. Addressing this, and following a four-year period of public discussion, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) voted to accept an Amendment to the 4th edition of the Code, thereby adapting the rules of zoological nomenclature to new realities of publication media and methods (ICZN 2012a,b,c). The Amendment dealt with the most important issues of publishing in an electronic world, but in all transitional times new regulatory guidelines may have difficulties keeping up with the rate of change. As mentioned by Harold et al. 2013, the “devil may be in the detail”, but it is a process that must nevertheless be started. The ICZN encourages all interested individuals and groups to participate in the discussion leading up to the 5th edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, whether by the ICZN e-mail discussion list, the 5th edition Wiki, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature or through other media, to help make the next edition satisfy the needs of the community.

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has voted in favour of a revised version of the amendment to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature that was proposed in 2008. The purpose of the amendment is to expand and refine the methods of publication allowed by the Code, particularly in relation to electronic publication. The amendment establishes an Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (with ZooBank as its online version), allows electronic publication after 2011 under certain conditions, and disallows publication on optical discs after 2012. The requirements for electronic publications are that the work be registered in ZooBank before it is published, that the work itself state the date of publication and contain evidence that registration has occurred, and that the ZooBank registration state both the name of an electronic archive intended to preserve the work and the ISSN or ISBN associated with the work. Registration of new scientific names and nomenclatural acts is not required. The Commission has confirmed that ZooBank is ready to handle the requirements of the amendment.

Following four years of highly charged debate the rules for publication of scientific names of animals have been changed to allow electronic publications to meet the requirements of the stringent International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In a landmark decision, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) has passed an amendment to its rules that will accept an electronic-only publication as ‘legitimate’ if it meets criteria of archiving and the publication is registered on the ICZN’s official online registry, ZooBank. A brief discussion of the amendment is available from: Zootaxa : http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/list/2012/3450.html Zookeys: http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/3944/

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature has voted in favour of a revised version of the amendment to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature that was proposed in 2008. The purpose of the amendment is to expand and refine the methods of publication allowed by the Code, particularly in relation to electronic publication. The amendment establishes an Official Register of Zoological Nomenclature (with ZooBank as its online version), allows electronic publication after 2011 under certain conditions, and disallows publication on optical discs after 2012. The requirements for electronic publications are that the work be registered in ZooBank before it is published, that the work itself state the date of publication and contain evidence that registration has occurred, and that the ZooBank registration state both the name of an electronic archive intended to preserve the work and the ISSN or ISBN associated with the work. Registration of new scientific names and nomenclatural acts is not required. The Commission has confirmed that ZooBank is ready to handle the requirements of the amendment.

One of the oldest fossil horseshoe crabs figured in the literature isEntomolithus lunatusMartin, 1809, a Carboniferous species included in hisPetrificata Derbiensia. While the species has generally been included within the genusBelinurusBronn, 1839, it was recently used as the type species of the new genusParabelinurusLamsdell, 2020. However, recent investigation as to the appropriate authority forBelinurus(see Lamsdell and Clapham, 2021) revealed that all the names inPetrificata Derbiensiawere suppressed in Opinion 231 of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1954) for being consistently nonbinomial under Article 11.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). Despite the validation of several species names for anthozoans, brachiopods, and cephalopods described inPetrificata Derbiensiain subsequent rulings (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1956a, b),Belinurus lunatushas not been the subject of any subsequent Commission ruling or opinion, and so its use inPetrificata Derbiensiaremains suppressed. TheBelinurus lunatusspecies name was used in several subsequent publications during the 1800s, none of which made the name available under ICZN article 11.5; Parkinson (1811) is also suppressed for being nonbinomial, while Woodward (1830), Buckland (1837), Bronn (1839), and Baily (1859) refer to the species only as a synonym ofBelinurus trilobitoides(Buckland, 1837) through citation to the suppressedPretificata Derbiensia. The first author to makeBelinurus lunatusan available name was Baldwin (1905), who used the name in reference to a new figured specimen from Sparth Bottoms, Rochdale, UK, but again as an explicit junior synonym ofBelinurus trilobitoides(Buckland, 1837). Therefore, it was not until Eller (1938) treatedB. lunatusas a distinct species fromB. trilobitoidesthatB. lunatusbecame an available name as per ICZN Article 11.6.1 under the authorship of Baldwin (1905) following ICZN Article 50.7.

Nomenclature is the discipline of taxonomy responsible for managing the scientific names of groups of organisms. It ensures continuity in the transmission of all kinds of data and knowledge accumulated about taxa. Zoologists use the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 1999), currently in its fourth edition. The Code contains the rules that allow the correct understanding and application of nomenclature, e.g., how to choose between two names applying to the same taxon. Nomenclature became more complex over the centuries, as rules appeared, disappeared, or evolved to adapt to scientific and technological changes (e.g., the inclusion of digital media) (International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 2012). By adhering to nomenclatural rules, taxonomic databases, such as the Catalogue of Life (Bánki et al. 2023), can maintain the integrity and accuracy of taxon names, preventing confusion and ambiguity. Nomenclature also facilitates the linkage and integration of data across different databases, allowing for seamless collaboration and information exchange among researchers. However, unlike its final result, which is also called a nomenclature, the discipline itself has remained relatively impervious to computerization, until now. Lognom*1 is a free web application based on algorithms that facilitate decision-making in zoological nomenclature. It is not based on a pre-existing database, but instead provides an answer based on the user input, and relies on interactive form-based queries. This software aims to help taxonomists determine whether a name or work is available, whether spelling rules have been correctly applied, and whether all the relevant rules have been respected before a new name or work is published. Lognom also allows the user to obtain the valid name between several pre-registered candidate names, including the list of synonyms and the reason for their synonymy. It also includes tools for answering various nomenclatural questions, such as determining if two different species names with the same derivation and meaning should be treated as homonyms; if a name should be treated as a nomen oblitum under Art. 23.9 of the Code; and another tool to determine a genus-series name's grammatical gender. Lognom includes most of the rules regarding availability and validity, with the exception of those needing human interpretation, usually pertaining to Latin grammar. At this point of its development, homonymy is not completely included in the web app, nor are the rules linked to the management of type-specimens (e.g., lectotypification, neotypification), outside of their use in determining the availability of a name. With enough data entered by the users, Lognom should be able to model a modification of the rules and calculate its impact on the potential availability or spelling of existing names. Other prospectives include the possibility of working simultaneously on common projects, which should lead to dynamic lists of available names, as well as automatically extracting nomenclatural data from pre-existing databases, where relevant information is disseminated. A link to attach semantic web labels to names throughout Zoonom (Saliba et al. 2021) or NOMEN (Yoder et al. 2017) is also under consideration.

THE "Official List of Generic Names in Zoology" was established by the International Congress of Zoology in order to promote stability in zoological nomenclature by placing on record the correct names of the principal genera in each of the classes and orders of the animal kingdom, together with their type species. Hitherto names have been placed on the "Official List" in Opinions rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, but in 1943, the International Commission decided that it was desirable to make the "Official List" more readily available, and accordingly decided to publish it as soon as possible in convenient book form and with a full index. The preparation of the "Official List" for publication in this way, which was begun in the autumn of 1943, involved the checking of all the relevant bibliographical and other references to the generic names concerned and their type species. In the course of this work, errors were detected in a number of the Opinions containing decisions relating to the "Official List". These errors are being brought at once to the attention of the International Commission with the view of its rendering an Opinion as soon as possible containing such rectifications as may be necessary.