Conserved name

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The name for this yeast, Candida albicans, is a nomen conservanda Candidaalbicansphases.jpg
The name for this yeast, Candida albicans , is a nomen conservanda

A conserved name or nomen conservandum (plural nomina conservanda, abbreviated as nom. cons.) 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), [2] while the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature favours the term "conserved name".

Contents

The process for conserving botanical names is different from that for zoological names. Under the botanical code, names may also be "suppressed", nomen rejiciendum (plural nomina rejicienda or nomina utique rejicienda, abbreviated as nom. rej.), or rejected in favour of a particular conserved name, and combinations based on a suppressed name are also listed as “nom. rej.”.[ citation needed ]

Botany

Conservation

In botanical nomenclature, conservation is a nomenclatural procedure governed by Article 14 of the ICN. [3] Its purpose is

"to avoid disadvantageous nomenclatural changes entailed by the strict application of the rules, and especially of the principle of priority [...]" (Art. 14.1).

Conservation is possible only for names at the rank of family, genus or species.

It may effect a change in original spelling, type, or (most commonly) priority.[ citation needed ]

Rejection

Besides conservation of names of certain ranks (Art. 14), the ICN also offers the option of outright rejection of a name (nomen utique rejiciendum) also called suppressed name under Article 56, another way of creating a nomen rejiciendum that cannot be used anymore. Outright rejection is possible for a name at any rank.[ citation needed ]

Rejection (suppression) of individual names is distinct from suppression of works (opera utique oppressa) under Article 34, which allows for listing certain taxonomic ranks in certain publications which are considered not to include any validly published names.[ citation needed ]

Effects

Conflicting conserved names are treated according to the normal rules of priority. Separate proposals (informally referred to as "superconservation" proposals) may be made to protect a conserved name that would be overtaken by another. However, conservation has different consequences depending on the type of name that is conserved:[ citation needed ]

Documentation

Conserved and rejected names (and suppressed names) are listed in the appendices to the ICN. As of the 2012 (Melbourne) edition, a separate volume holds the bulk of the appendices (except appendix I, on names of hybrids). [4] The substance of the second volume is generated from a database which also holds a history of published proposals and their outcomes, the binding decisions on whether a name is validly published (article 38.4) and on whether it is a homonym (article 53.5). [5] [4] The database can be queried online. [6]

Procedure

  1. The procedure starts by submitting a proposal to the journal Taxon (published by the IAPT). This proposal should present the case both for and against conservation of a name. Publication notifies anybody concerned that the matter is being considered and makes it possible for those interested to write in. Publication is the start of the formal procedure: it counts as referring the matter "to the appropriate Committee for study" and Rec 14A.1 comes into effect. The name in question is (somewhat) protected by this Recommendation ("... authors should follow existing usage as far as possible ...").[ citation needed ]
  2. After reviewing the matter, judging the merits of the case, "the appropriate Committee" makes a decision either against ("not recommended") or in favor ("recommended"). Then the matter is passed to the General Committee.
  3. After reviewing the matter, mostly from a procedural angle, the General Committee makes a decision, either against ("not recommended") or in favor ("recommended"). At this point Article 14.16 comes into effect. Art 14.16 authorizes all users to indeed use that name.
  4. The General Committee reports to the Nomenclature Section of the International Botanical Congress, stating which names (including types and spellings) it recommends for conservation. Then, by Div.III.1, the Nomenclature Section makes a decision on which names (including types, spellings) are accepted into the Code. At this stage the de facto decision is made to modify the Code.
  5. The Plenary Session of that same International Botanical Congress receives the "resolution moved by the Nomenclature Section of that Congress" and makes a de jure decision to modify the Code. By long tradition this step is ceremonial in nature only.[ citation needed ]

In the course of time there have been different standards for the majority required for a decision. However, for decades the Nomenclature Section has required a 60% majority for an inclusion in the Code, and the Committees have followed this example, in 1996 adopting a 60% majority for a decision.[ citation needed ]

Zoology

For zoology, the term "conserved name", rather than nomen conservandum, is used in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, [7] although informally both terms are used interchangeably.[ citation needed ]

In the glossary of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature [7] (the code for names of animals, one of several nomenclature codes), this definition is given:

conserved name
A name otherwise unavailable or invalid that the Commission, by the use of its plenary power, has enabled to be used as a valid name by removal of the known obstacles to such use.

This is a more generalized definition than the one for nomen protectum , which is specifically a conserved name that is either a junior synonym or homonym that is in use because the senior synonym or homonym has been made a nomen oblitum ("forgotten name").[ citation needed ]

An example of a conserved name is the dinosaur genus name Pachycephalosaurus , which was formally described in 1943. Later, Tylosteus (which was formally described in 1872) was found to be the same genus as Pachycephalosaurus (a synonym). By the usual rules, the genus Tylosteus has precedence and would normally be the correct name. But the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) ruled that the name Pachycephalosaurus was to be given precedence and treated as the valid name, because it was in more common use and better known to scientists.[ citation needed ]

The ICZN's procedural details are different from those in botany, but the basic operating principle is the same, with petitions submitted to the commission for review.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

Genus is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holotype</span> Example of an organism used to describe its species

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.

<i>International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants</i> Code of scientific nomenclature

The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants, fungi and a few other groups of organisms, all those "traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants". It was formerly called the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN); the name was changed at the International Botanical Congress in Melbourne in July 2011 as part of the Melbourne Code which replaced the Vienna Code of 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botanical name</span> Scientific name for a plant, alga or fungus

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups ."

<i>Nomen nudum</i> Term used in nomenclature ("naked name")

In taxonomy, a nomen nudum is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate description. This makes it a "bare" or "naked" name, which cannot be accepted as it stands. A largely equivalent but much less frequently used term is nomen tantum. Sometimes, "nomina nuda" is erroneously considered a synonym for the term "unavailable names". However, not all unavailable names are nomina nuda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Association for Plant Taxonomy</span> Plant biodiversity organization

The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and stability in plant names. The IAPT was founded on July 18, 1950, at the Seventh International Botanical Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. The IAPT headquarters is located in Bratislava, Slovakia. Its president, since 2017, is Patrick S. Herendeen of the Chicago Botanic Garden; vice-president is Gonzalo Nieto Feliner of the Real Jardín Botánico, Madrid; and secretary-general is Karol Marhold of the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava.

Nomenclature codes or codes of nomenclature are the various rulebooks that govern biological taxonomic nomenclature, each in their own broad field of organisms. To an end-user who only deals with names of species, with some awareness that species are assignable to genera, families, and other taxa of higher ranks, it may not be noticeable that there is more than one code, but beyond this basic level these are rather different in the way they work.

In botany, the correct name according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) is the one and only botanical name that is to be used for a particular taxon, when that taxon has a particular circumscription, position and rank. Determining whether a name is correct is a complex procedure. The name must be validly published, a process which is defined in no less than 16 Articles of the ICN. It must also be "legitimate", which imposes some further requirements. If there are two or more legitimate names for the same taxon, then the correct name is the one which has priority, i.e. it was published earliest, although names may be conserved if they have been very widely used. Validly published names other than the correct name are called synonyms. Since taxonomists may disagree as to the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, there can be more than one correct name for a particular plant. These may also be called synonyms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Botanical Congress</span> International meeting of botanists in all scientific fields held every six years

International Botanical Congress (IBC) is an international meeting of botanists in all scientific fields, authorized by the International Association of Botanical and Mycological Societies (IABMS) and held every six years, with the location rotating between different continents. The current numbering system for the congresses starts from the year 1900; the XVIII IBC was held in Melbourne, Australia, 24–30 July 2011, and the XIX IBC was held in Shenzhen, China, 23–29 July 2017.

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.

In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon.

In zoological nomenclature, a nomen oblitum is a disused scientific name which has been declared to be obsolete in favour of another 'protected' name.

In biological nomenclature, a nomen novum, new replacement name is a scientific name that is created specifically to replace another scientific name, but only when this other name cannot be used for technical, nomenclatural reasons. It does not apply when a name is changed for taxonomic reasons. It is frequently abbreviated, e.g.nomen nov., nom. nov..

The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Principle of priority</span> Principle of botanical and zoological nomenclature

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:

  1. 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.
  2. Once a name has been used, no subsequent publication of that name for another taxon shall be valid (zoology) or validly published (botany).
<i>Cacalia</i> Rejected genus of flowering plants

The genus Cacalia L. is a nomen rejiciendum under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. The type species C. alpina L. has been transferred to Adenostyles alpina (L.) Bluff & Fingerh., and the former species of Cacalia now reside in a few different genera.

<i>Nomen illegitimum</i> Latin term meaning "illegitimate name", used mainly in botany.

Nomen illegitimum is a technical term, used mainly in botany. It is usually abbreviated as nom. illeg. Although the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants uses Latin terms for other kinds of name, the glossary defines the English phrase "illegitimate name" rather than the Latin equivalent. However, the Latin abbreviation is widely used by botanists and mycologists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctioned name</span>

In mycology, a sanctioned name is a name that was adopted in certain works of Christiaan Hendrik Persoon or Elias Magnus Fries, which are considered major points in fungal taxonomy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glossary of scientific naming</span> List of terms and symbols used in scientific names for organisms, and in describing the names.

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.

References

  1. McCool, Logan. "The Discovery and Naming of Candida albicans". Antimicrobe. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  2. "International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants" (Melbourne Code ed.). 2012.
  3. "Chapter II Status, Typification, and Priority of Names Section 4 Limitation of the Principle of Priority Article 14". International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. International Association for Plant Taxonomy. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. 1 2 Wiersema, J.H.; McNeill, J.; Turland, N.J.; Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Prud'homme van Reine, W.F.; Smith, G.F. (2015), International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011 Appendices II – VIII, vol. 157, Koeltz Botanical Books, ISBN   978-3-87429-480-5
  5. Wiersema, J.; McNeill, J.; Turland, N.J.; Orli, S.S.; Wagner, W.L. (2015), "The foundation of the Melbourne Code Appendices: Announcing a new paradigm for tracking nomenclatural decisions", Taxon, 64 (5): 1021–1027, doi:10.12705/645.11
  6. International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants: Appendices II-VIII (with an accounting of proposals to conserve and reject names, to suppress works, and requests for binding decisions), Smithsonian Institution, retrieved 30 August 2016
  7. 1 2 "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature". Archived from the original on 24 May 2009. Retrieved 29 August 2006.