The naming of organisms (and plant communities)

216 Pages·2010·3.04 MB·English

by  . .

Cover by Ciprian-Marius Vizitiu.
Photos for cover kindly provided by:

Gregory Basco
Brian Gratwicke
David L. Hawksworth
Dietmar Koszewski
Christian Lange
Anne Mette Nielsen
David Patterson
TERMS USED IN BIONOMENCLATURE

TERMS USED IN BIONOMENCLATURE:
The naming of organisms (and plant
communities)
Including terms used in botanical, cultivated plant,
phylogenetic, phytosociological, prokaryote (bacteriological),
virus, and zoological nomenclature.

Compiled by
David L. Hawksworth

Chair, IUBS/IUMS International Committee on Bionomenclature
(ICB)
Departamento de Biología Vegetal II, Facultad de Farmacia,
Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza Ramón y Cajal,
Madrid 28040, Spain
and
Department of Botany, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell
Road, London SW7 5BD, UK.

E-mail: [email protected]
© Global Biodiversity Information Facility 2010

Published by Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Copenhagen.

May 2010

The mission of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is to
facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide via the
Internet to underpin sustainable development. Priorities, with an emphasis
on promoting participation and working through partners, include
mobilising biodiversity data, developing protocols and standards to ensure
scientific integrity and interoperability, building an informatics architecture
to allow the interlinking of diverse data types from disparate sources,
promoting capacity building and catalysing development of analytical tools
for improved decision-making. See http://www.gbif.org

ISBN 87-92020-09-7

A PDF version of this book can be downloaded from the GBIF website together with the
Terms of Bionomenclature web application at
http://www.gbif.org/communications/resources/print-and-online-
resources/bionomenclature/
Contents

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................ 8
INTRODUCTION................................................................................... 9
SCOPE .................................................................................................. 10
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................. 11
THE CODES ......................................................................................... 13
SELECTED ADDITIONAL SOURCES .............................................. 14
SELECTED ETYMOLOGICAL WORKS ........................................... 16
ABBREVIATIONS............................................................................... 19
TERMS USED IN BIONOMENCLATURE ........................................ 20
8 Terms used in Bionomenclature

Abstract
This is a glossary of over 2,100 terms used in biological nomenclature - the
naming of whole organisms of all kinds. It covers terms in use in the current
editions of the different internationally mandated and proposed organismal
Codes; i.e. those for botany (including mycology), cultivated plants,
prokaryotes (archaea and bacteria), virology, and zoology, as well as the
Draft BioCode and PhyloCode. Any abbreviations, latinizations and
synonyms are incorporated, as are terms which are either no longer
employed, are used outside the formal nomenclatural Codes, or are
otherwise likely to be encountered. As some of the terms used in the
classification of plant communities are identical to those of whole
organisms, terms used in phytosociological nomenclature are also included.
The glossary has been prepared with inputs from numerous nomenclatural
specialists, especially representatives of the different Codes serving on the
IUBS/IUMS International Committee on Bionomenclature. It is intended
for use as a reference work by all biologists, especially those involved with
the description or re-classification of organisms, as well as those
investigating the status and application of previously proposed names.

Selected key words: algae, animals, archaea, bacteria, BioCode, biological
nomenclature, botany, codes of nomenclature, cultivated plants, dictionary,
entomology, fungi, glossary, nomenclature, PhyloCode, phytosociology,
plants, prokaryotes, protists, viruses, zoology.
Hawksworth 9

Introduction
Terms used in discussions of, and in the procedures regulating, the
scientific naming of organisms often appear abstruse or unfamiliar to most
biologists. The associated language and jargon has developed exponentially
since Linnaeus endeavoured to codify procedures and terminology in the
Philosophia Botanica (1751). The situation has been exacerbated by
biologists working with different groups of organisms developing not only
unique terms, but also using identical ones but with different meanings.
Today, the accumulated terms present a major obstacle for biologists
needing to know how to introduce new scientific names, change positions
in a classification, understand why a name has been changed, or determine
that which should be used for an organism according to the appropriate sets
of rules. In addition, confrontation with unfamiliar and outdated terms can
be a barrier to a taxonomist's correct interpretation of the older literature
that has to be tackled when undertaking monographic or revisionary work.
However, it is my hope that this listing will also facilitate the understanding
of nomenclatural discussions and procedures by organismal biologists as a
whole.
The primary objective of the present compilation is to provide, in a single
reference work, definitions and explanations of terms for biologists of all
kinds working with, or on, the names or organisms. A secondary objective
is to discourage both the superfluous coining of new terms, and the use of
existing terms in different senses. As will be apparent from a perusal of the
entries, there is already an embarrassing number of cases of the same term
being used in disparate senses (e.g. genotype, morphotype). The
equivalence of selected terms employed in the different Codes is indicated
in Table 1.
I started compiling notes on terms used in botanical nomenclature in the
mid-1960s when as a student I found that some definitions were not always
easily located. My list grew, and a glossary of those relevant to mycology
was included in the Mycologist's Handbook (1974). I continued to make
notes as more were encountered for a putative second edition. In the mid-
1980s, the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) identified a
need for increased co-operation between the authorities concerned with the
nomenclature of different groups of organisms. Then, at the 24th General
Assembly of IUBS in Amsterdam in 1991, the Scientific Programme
10 Terms used in Bionomenclature

Committee reported that it would be advantageous to produce a
comprehensive glossary of biological nomenclature. To that end, in
November 1993 I circulated a first draft aiming to cover the five principle
Codes to several colleagues; the production of that draft was facilitated by
the glossary in Charles Jeffrey's Biological Nomenclature (1989). A second
draft was prepared in March 1994, and critically annotated by nominated
representatives of the different Codes serving on the then embryo
IUBS/IUMS International Committee on Bionomenclature (ICB). Taking
note of the painstakingly prepared inputs received, A Draft Glossary of
Terms used in Bionomenclature was published by IUBS in July 1994; this
had 1175 entries. This opened the draft to comment from the wider
biological community, and I continued to compile additions and corrections
received, as well as to incorporate updates and revisions necessitated by
new editions of the Codes and the scrutiny of other publications. Yet a
further draft was made available to several colleagues for comment on the
occasion of the International Botanical Congress in Vienna in July 2005,
and at a meeting of the ICB in London in June 2009.
Such a compilation can never be exhaustive, and it is being released now as
it has reached a stage where, hopefully, it will be of value to all those
concerned with the naming of whole organisms. However, awareness of the
possible deficiencies of the 1994 draft, led me to place a “health-warning”
on the back cover. The present work must also be used with caution, and
while representatives of the various Codes have assisted in the venture, it
has no formal standing in biological nomenclature.
Users who come across omissions or misinterpretation, or encounter
alternative uses of already included terms, are encouraged to submit details
to me ([email protected]) so that they can be accommodated in
any future edition.

Scope
This compilation covers terms employed in the current editions of the
different internationally mandated and proposed organismal Codes; i.e.
those for botany (including mycology), cultivated plants, prokaryotes
(archaea and bacteria), virology, and zoology, as well as the Draft BioCode
and PhyloCode. Also incorporated are abbreviations, latinizations, and
synonyms, as well as the numerous terms which are either no longer