Refers to citing the person (or group of people) who validly published a zoological name
In zoological nomenclature, author citation is the process in which a person is credited with the creation of the scientific name of a previously unnamed taxon. When citing the author of the scientific name, one must fulfill the formal requirements listed under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ("the Code").[1] According to Article 51.1 of the Code, "The name of the author does not form part of the name of a taxon and its citation is optional, although customary and often advisable." However, recommendation 51A suggests, "The original author and date of a name should be cited at least once in each work dealing with the taxon denoted by that name. This is especially important and has a unique character between homonyms and in identifying species-group names which are not in their native combinations." For the sake of information retrieval, the author citation and year appended to the scientific name, e.g. genus-species-author-year, genus-author-year, family-author-year, etc., is often considered a "de-facto" unique identifier, although this usage may often be imperfect.
The Code recognizes three groups of names, according to rank:
family-group names at the ranks of superfamily, family, subfamily, tribe, subtribe (any rank below superfamily and above genus).
genus-group names at the ranks of genus and subgenus.
species-group names at the ranks of species and subspecies.
Within each group, the same authorship applies regardless of the taxon level to which the name (with, in the case of a family-group name, the appropriate ending) is applied. For example, the taxa that the red admiral butterfly can be assigned to is as follows:
The parentheses around the author citation indicate that this was not the original taxonomic placement. In this case, Linnaeus published the name as Papilio atalanta Linnaeus, 1758.
The identity of the author had long been a matter of dispute and considered of secondary importance. In the first attempt to provide international rules for zoological nomenclature in 1895,[2] the author was defined as the author of the scientific description, and not as the person who provided the name (published or unpublished), as had been the usual practice in various animal groups before. As a result, some disciplines such as malacology required a change in authorship regarding their taxonomic names as they had been attributed to persons who had never published a scientific work.
This new rule was not sufficiently precise, so in the following decades, taxonomic practice continued to diverge among disciplines and authors. The ambiguity led a member of the ICZN Commission in 1974 to provide a more clear interpretation in the second edition of the Code (effective since 1961). Here, a suggestion is made that the author is defined as the individual who "publishes the name and the qualifying conditions...or equally clearcut attribution of name and description" .[3]
The current view among some taxonomists restricts authorship for a taxonomic name to the person who wrote the textual scientific content of the original description. The author of an image is not recognized as a co-author of a name, even if the image was the only basis provided for making the name available.
If a true author of a written text is not directly recognizable in the original publication, they are not the author of a name (but the author of the work is). The text could actually be written by a different person. Some authors have copied text passages from unpublished sources without acknowledging them. In Art. 50.1.1 all these persons are excluded from the authorship of a name if they were not explicitly mentioned in the work itself as being the responsible persons for making a name available.
Most taxonomists also accept Art. 50.1.1 that the author of a cited previously published source, from which text passages were copied, is not acknowledged as the author of a name.
In some cases, the author of the description can differ from the author of the work. This must be explicitly indicated in the original publication, either by a general statement ("all zoological descriptions in this work were written by Smith") or by an individual statement ("the following three descriptions were provided by Jiménez," "this name shall be attributed to me and Wang because she contributed to the description").
In the 1800s it was the usual style to eventually set an abbreviation of another author immediately below the text of the description or diagnosis to indicate authorship for the description. This is commonly accepted today; if the description is attributed to a different person, then that person is the author.
When the name of a different author was only set behind the new name in the headline (and not repeated below the description to indicate that description had been written by that person), this was a convention to indicate authorship only for the new name and not for the description. These authorships for names are not covered by Art. 50.1 and are not accepted. Only authorship for the description is accepted.
Prior to 1900-1920, there were several different conventions concerning authorship which is why we frequently find other authors than today for zoological names in early zoological literature. Art. 50.1 has been a quite successful model since it became commonly accepted in the mid-1900s. There is no need to research who the true author was and everyone including young and relatively inexperienced researchers can verify and determine the name of the author in the original work itself.
Examples to illustrate practical use
In citing the name of an author, the surname is given in full, not abbreviated. The date (true year) of publication in which the name was established is added. If desired, a comma is placed between the author and date (the comma is not prescribed under the Code, it contains no additional information. However, it is included in examples therein and also in the ICZN Official Lists and Indexes).
the white-fronted goose was first described (by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli), as Branta albifrons Scopoli, 1769. It is currently placed in the genus Anser, so author and year are set in parentheses. The taxonomist who first placed the species in Anser is not recorded (and much less cited), the two different genus-species combinations are not regarded as synonyms.
An author can have established a name dedicated to oneself. This is rare and against unwritten conventions, but is not restricted under the Code.
Xeropicta krynickii (Krynicki, 1833)
a terrestrial gastropod from Ukraine was first described as Helix krynickii Krynicki, 1833, who originally attributed the name to another person Andrzejowski. But the description was written by Krynicki, and Andrzejowski had not published this name before.
Spelling of the name of the author
In a strict application of the Code, the taxon name author string components "genus," "species," and "year" can only have one combination of characters. The major problem in zoology for consistent spellings of names is the author. The Code gives neither a guide nor a detailed recommendation.
Unlike in botany, it is not recommended to abbreviate the name of the author in zoology.[1] If a name was established by more than three authors, it is allowed to give only the first author, followed by the term "et. al." (and others).
There are no approved standards for the spellings of authors in zoology, and unlike in botany, no one has ever proposed such standards for zoological authors.
It is generally accepted that the name of the author shall be given in the nominative singular case if originally given in a different case and that the name of the author should be spelled in Latin script.[4] There are no commonly accepted conventions on how to transcribe the names of authors if given in non-Latin script.
It is also widely accepted that the names of authors must be spelled with diacritic marks, ligatures, spaces, and punctuation marks. The first letter is normally spelled in upper-case, however, initial capitalization and usage of accessory terms can be inconsistent (e.g. de Wilde/De Wilde, d'Orbigny/D'Orbigny, Saedeleer/De Saedeleer, etc.). Co-authors are separated by commas; the last co-author should be separated by "&". In Chinese and Korean names only the surname is generally cited.
Apart from these, there are no commonly accepted conventions. The author can either be spelled following a self-made standard (Linnaeus 1758, Linnaeus 1766),[5] or as given in the original source which implies that names of persons are not always spelled consistently (Linnæus 1758, Linné 1766),[6] or we are dealing with composed data sets without any consistent standard.[7]
Inferred and anonymous authorships
In some publications, the author responsible for new names and nomenclatural acts is not stated directly in the original source, but can sometimes be inferred from reliable external evidence. Recommendation 51D of the Code states: "...if the authorship is known or inferred from external evidence, the name of the author, if cited, should be enclosed in square brackets to show the original anonymity".
Initials
If the same surname is common to more than one author, initials are sometimes given (for example "A. Agassiz" vs. "L. Agassiz", etc.), but there are no standards concerning this procedure, and not all animal groups/databases use this convention. Although initials are often regarded as useful to disambiguate different persons with the same surname, this does not work in all situations (for example "W. Smith", "C. Pfeiffer", "G. B. Sowerby" and other names occur more than once), and in the examples given in the Code and also the ICZN Official Lists and Indexes,[8] initials are not used.
Implications for information retrieval
For a computer, O. F. Müller, O. Müller, and Müller are different strings, even the differences between O. F. Müller, O.F. Müller, and OF Müller can be problematic. Fauna Europaea[7] is a typical example of a database where combined initials O.F. and O. F. are read as entirely different strings so those who try to search for all taxonomic names described by Otto Friedrich Müller have to know (1) that the submitted data by the various data providers contained several versions (O. F. Müller, O.F. Müller, Müller, and O. Müller), and (2) that in many databases, the search function will not find O.F. Müller if you search for O. F. Müller or Müller, not to mention alternative orthographies of this name such as Mueller or Muller.
Thus, the usage of (e.g.) genus-species-author-year, genus-author-year, family-author-year, etc. as "de facto" unique identifiers for biodiversity informatics purposes can present problems on account of variation in cited author surnames, presence/absence/variations in cited initials, and minor variants in the style of presentation, as well as variant cited authors (responsible person/s) and sometimes, cited dates for what may be in fact the same nomenclatural act in the same work. In addition, in a small number of cases, the same author may have created the same name more than once in the same year for different taxa, which can then only be distinguished by reference to the title, page, and sometimes line of the work in which each name appears.
In Australia, a program was created (TAXAMATCH)[9] that provides a tool to indicate in a preliminary manner whether two variants of a taxon name should be accepted as identical or not according to the similarity of the cited author strings. The authority matching function of TAXAMATCH assigns a moderate-to-high similarity to author strings with minor orthographic and/or date differences, such as "Medvedev & Chernov, 1969" vs. "Medvedev & Cernov, 1969", or "Schaufuss, 1877" vs. "L. W. Schaufuss, 1877", or even "Oshmarin, 1952" vs. "Oschmarin in Skrjabin & Evranova, 1952", and a low similarity to author citations which are very different (for example "Hyalesthes Amyot, 1847" vs. "Hyalesthes Signoret, 1865") and are more likely to represent different publication instances, and therefore possibly also different taxa. The program also understands standardized abbreviations as used in botany and sometimes in zoology as well; for example, "Rchb." for Reichenbach, but may still fail for non-standard abbreviations (such as "H. & A. Ad." for H. & A. Adams, where the normal citation would in fact be "Adams & Adams"). Non-standard abbreviations must then be picked up by subsequent manual inspection after the use of an algorithmic approach to pre-sort the names to be matched into groups of either more or less similar names and cited authorities. However, author names that are spelled very similarly but in fact represent different persons, and who independently authored identical taxon names, will not be adequately separated by this program; examples include "O. F. Müller 1776" vs. "P. L. S. Müller 1776", "G. B. Sowerby I 1850" vs. "G. B. Sowerby III 1875" and "L. Pfeiffer 1856" vs. "K. L. Pfeiffer 1956", so additional manual inspection is also required, especially for known problem cases such as those given above.
A further cause of errors that would not be detected by such a program include authors with multi-part surnames which are sometimes inconsistently applied in the literature, and works where the accepted attribution has changed over time. For example, genera published in the anonymously authored work "Museum Boltenianum sive catalogus cimeliorum..." published in 1798 were for a long time ascribed to Bolten, but are now considered to have been authored by Röding according to a ruling by the ICZN in 1956.[10] Analogous problems are encountered attempting to cross-link medical records by patient name; for relevant discussion see record linkage.
Author of a nomen nudum
A new name mentioned without description or indication or figure is a nomen nudum. A nomen nudum has no authorship nor date and is not an available name. If it is desired or necessary to cite the author of such an unavailable name, the nomenclatural status of the name should be made evident.[4]
Sensu names
A "sensu" name (sensu = "in the sense of", should not be written in italics) is a previously established name that was used by an author in an incorrect sense (for example for a species that was misidentified). Technically this is only a subsequent use of a name, not a new name, and it has no own authorship. Taxonomists often created unwritten rules for authorships of sensu names to record the first and original source for a misidentification of an animal, but this is not in accordance with the Code.[4]
Example:
For a West Alpine snailPupa ferrari Porro, 1838, Hartmann (1841) used the genus Sphyradium Charpentier, 1837, which Charpentier had established for some similar species. Westerlund argued in 1887 that this species should be placed in another genus, and proposed the name Coryna for Pupa ferrari and some other species. Pilsbry argued in 1922, Westerlund had established Coryna as a new replacement name for Sphyradium, sensu Hartmann, 1841 (therefore "sensu" should not be written in italics, the term Sphyradium sensu Hartmann, 1841 would be misunderstood as a species name). But since a sensu name is not an available name with its own author and year, Pilsbry's argument is not consistent with the ICZN Code's rules.
Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:
The particular form of biological classification (taxonomy) set up by Carl Linnaeus, as set forth in his Systema Naturae (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus there are three kingdoms, divided into classes, and the classes divided into lower ranks in a hierarchical order.
A term for rank-based classification of organisms, in general. That is, taxonomy in the traditional sense of the word: rank-based scientific classification. This term is especially used as opposed to cladistic systematics, which groups organisms into clades. It is attributed to Linnaeus, although he neither invented the concept of ranked classification nor gave it its present form. In fact, it does not have an exact present form, as "Linnaean taxonomy" as such does not really exist: it is a collective (abstracting) term for what actually are several separate fields, which use similar approaches.
In biology, taxonomy is the scientific study of naming, defining (circumscribing) and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank; groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a more inclusive group of higher rank, thus creating a taxonomic hierarchy. The principal ranks in modern use are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the founder of the current system of taxonomy, as he developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorizing organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms.
Genus is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature, also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomial name, a binomen, binominal name, or a scientific name; more informally it is also historically called a Latin name. In the ICZN, the system is also called binominal nomenclature, "binomi'N'al" with an "N" before the "al", which is not a typographic error, meaning "two-name naming system".
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The rules principally regulate:
In biology, a taxon is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ranking, especially if and when it is accepted or becomes established. It is very common, however, for taxonomists to remain at odds over what belongs to a taxon and the criteria used for inclusion, especially in the context of rank-based ("Linnaean") nomenclature. If a taxon is given a formal scientific name, its use is then governed by one of the nomenclature codes specifying which scientific name is correct for a particular grouping.
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept.
In biology, a type is a particular specimen of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the defining features of that particular taxon. In older usage, a type was a taxon rather than a specimen.
In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botany and zoology. In zoology, alternate terms such as original combination or protonym are sometimes used instead. Bacteriology uses a similar term, basonym, spelled without an i.
In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical nomenclature is Linnaeus' Species Plantarum of 1753. Botanical nomenclature is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), which replaces the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN). Fossil plants are also covered by the code of nomenclature.
In botanical nomenclature, author citation is the way of citing the person or group of people who validly published a botanical name, i.e. who first published the name while fulfilling the formal requirements as specified by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN). In cases where a species is no longer in its original generic placement, both the authority for the original genus placement and that for the new combination are given.
In zoological nomenclature, the valid name of a taxon is the correct scientific name for that taxon. The valid name must be used for that taxon, regardless of any other name that may currently be used for that taxon, or may previously have been used. A name can only be valid when it is an available name under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN); if a name is unavailable, then it cannot be considered either valid or invalid.
A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules which would otherwise prevent it from being legitimate. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning "a name to be conserved". The terms are often used interchangeably, such as by the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN), while the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature favours the term "conserved name".
The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.
Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two aspects to this:
The first formal scientific name published for a plant or animal taxon shall be the name that is to be used, called the valid name in zoology and correct name in botany.
Once a name has been used, no subsequent publication of that name for another taxon shall be valid (zoology) or validly published (botany).
In biodiversity informatics, a chresonym is the cited use of a taxon name, usually a species name, within a publication. The term is derived from the Greek χρῆσις chresis meaning "a use" and refers to published usage of a name.
In zoology, the principle of coordination is one of the guiding principles of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
AnimalBase is a project brought to life in 2004 and is maintained by the University of Göttingen, Germany. The goal of the AnimalBase project is to digitize early zoological literature, provide copyright-free open access to zoological works, and provide manually verified lists of names of zoological genera and species as a free resource for the public. AnimalBase contributed to opening up the classical taxonomic literature, which is considered as useful because access to early literature can be difficult for researchers who need the old sources for their taxonomic research.
This is a list of terms and symbols used in scientific names for organisms, and in describing the names. For proper parts of the names themselves, see List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names. Note that many of the abbreviations are used with or without a stop.
↑ Blanchard, R., Maehrenthal, F. von & Stiles, C. W. 1905. Règles internationales de la Nomenclature Zoologique adoptées par les Congrès Internationaux de Zoologie. International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature. Internationale Regeln der Zoologischen Nomenklatur. Paris (Rudeval)
↑ Sabrosky, C. W. 1974. Article 50 and questions of authorship. Z.N.(S.) 1925. Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 31 (4): 206-208.
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