Nomenclature for

the Future:The power and challenges for

stable and sensible scientific

names for animals

Ellinor Michel1,2,3 Richard Pyle1,3,4

Daphne Fautin1,3,5 David Patterson1,3,6

Jon Todd2,3

1 1 Int’l Commission on Zoological NomenclatureInt’l Commission on Zoological Nomenclature 22The Natural History Museum, London UKThe Natural History Museum, London UK

33Int’l Committee on BionomenclatureInt’l Committee on Bionomenclature44Bishop Museum, HI, USABishop Museum, HI, USA

55University of Kansas, USAUniversity of Kansas, USA66Arizona State Univ, AZ, USAArizona State Univ, AZ, USA

All accumulated information of a species is tied to a scientific name, a name that serves as a link between what has been learned in the past and what we today add to the body of knowledge.

- Grimaldi & Engel, 2005

Names and the information revolution

Note: they don’t say THE scientific name (i.e., singular)

Equivalent of 318 volumes of Systema Naturae

Estimated 2-6 names for every valid (=currently considered definable and ‘real’) species

4,398 Species

Nomenclature Taxonomy

Type specimen

Is the objective physical standard for a name that anchors the name.

✔ICZN types for the Future

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✔ICZN types for the Future

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✔Types for the Future

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Scientific concept of biodiversity

Name(Scientific, common, provisional or open)

Type specimen (objective standard)

Data & Bibliography

Stability, transparency and testability

Name(Scientific, common, provisional or open)

Type specimen (objective standard)

Data & Bibliography

Archives for Scientific concepts of biodiversity

Name(Scientific, common, provisional or open)

Type specimen (objective standard)

Data & Bibliography

Stable archives

neededNatural History

Collections

Libraries

Publications

Data sources

Registration in ZooBank• Now required for e-only publications

• Has general community support

E-only publication amendment to ICZN Code published 4 Sept

ZooBank improved version released, meeting requirements of the Amendment

From zoobank.org/statistics

• Now required for e-only publications

• Has general community support

• Registration of all names and nomenclatural acts is strongly encouraged and being rapidly implemented

• Next Step: ALL names (historical and future) registered and cross-linked!

Registration in ZooBank

A name = ‘computer’ readable code that links information

A5B835CF-BB3A-4CC9-BCBD-38BA253C8374

Easy for a computer;Hard for a human

Easy for a human;Hard for a computer

“Archaeopteryx”

GenBank

HymenopteraNameServer

BDWB

CalPhotos

Namesconnecting information

ToL

GenBank

HymenopteraNameServer

BDWB

CalPhotos

“Archaeopteryx”

ToL

GenBank

HymenopteraNameServer

BDWB

CalPhotos ToL

A5B835CF-BB3A-4CC9-BCBD-38BA253C8374(= Archaeopteryx)

ToL

GenBank

HymenopteraNameServer

BDWB

CalPhotos

A Global Names ArchitectureA Global Names Architecture

A5B835CF-BB3A-4CC9-BCBD-38BA253C8374

Big Data Infrastructure

Data re-use

Data generation

Data pool

Patterson, BioSyst.EU Keynote

Zoological Names in the Future

• Global mandatory registration for all new names – next edition of the Code?

• Ultimate Goal: Registered = Available (Pyle & Michel, 2008; Minelli, 2013)

Logistics of populating ZooBank• 16,000-20,000 new animal species described 16,000-20,000 new animal species described

each yeareach year• 1.9 million described extant species1.9 million described extant species• 5-50 million estimated total extant species (R. 5-50 million estimated total extant species (R.

May, E.O. Wilson, T. Erwin)May, E.O. Wilson, T. Erwin)• Fossil species multiply this by some factorFossil species multiply this by some factor

Strategic approaches requiredStrategic approaches required Publishers highly supportive and beginning Publishers highly supportive and beginning to require ZooBank registrationto require ZooBank registration

Authors & databases contributing nowAuthors & databases contributing now

Logistics of populating ZooBankBuilding tools to streamline the capture of prospective content•Publishers pipelines with XML tools•Requested and required ZooBank registration by authors of new papers•(all e-only publications must be registered to be available)

Populating with retrospective content•Major sources – Sherborn, Hymenoptera Names Server, Hexacorallians of the World, etc.•Committed individuals – Rod Bray, Takafumi Nakano•Lists of Available Names (LANs)

ZooBank links with the Biodiversity Heritage Library

LANs – Lists of Available Names

• Critical assembly of large numbers of names

• Community debate• Commission authoritative

ruling

Article 79 - An international body of zoologists… in consultation with the Commission may propose that the Commission adopt for a major taxonomic field (or related fields) a Part of the List of Available Names in Zoology. The Commission will consider the proposal and may adopt the Part subject to the proposing body and the Commission meeting the requirements of this Article.

1)Ensures a candidate Part of the LAN is thoroughly vetted2)Pares away dubious names

• like the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names that took effect on 1 January 1980 – taxonomically recognizable as well as nomenclaturally available

3) Prevents “nomenclatural archeology”• long-forgotten names displacing accepted names

Creates a definitive nomenclatural inventory (a new zero point) for a portion of the taxonomic spectrum

Source of names for ZooBank

LANs – Lists of Available Names

Two Possibilities

to document every available name within the scope of the Part

to pare the inventory of names within the scope of the Part

STRICTLY NOMENCLATURAL

TAXONOMIC COMPONENT

www.bionomenclature.net/

Harmonising the Codes

• Names are the anchor and link for biodiversity information

exchange

• Types provide stability and meaning for taxon names

• An stable archive of names is a critical taxonomic

infrastructure

• ZooBank aims to be the authoritative source for scientific

names of animals and is growing rapidly

• The future of nomenclature includes a harmonization of

biological codes, especially through technical tools such as

ZooBank and the Global Names Architecture

Conclusions

Natural History Museum, London

Bishop Museum, Hawaii

ITCN/ITZN supporting institutions

(MNHN (France), Senckenberg

(Germany), Naturalis, RBINS

(Belgium), AAZN (USA))

The Commissioners & Trustees of

ICZN / ITZN

ICB – International Committee on

Bionomenclature

Everyone pitching in on building

ZooBank content

THANKS

Le

t’s

dis

cus

s!