The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.
Organization
The ICZN is governed by the "Constitution of the ICZN", which is usually published together with the
ICZN Code
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 I ...
.
Members are elected by the Section of Zoological Nomenclature, established by the
International Union of Biological Sciences
The International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) is a non-profit organization and non-governmental organization, founded in 1919, that promotes the biological sciences internationally. As a scientific umbrella organization it was a founding m ...
(IUBS).
The regular term of service of a member of the Commission is six years. Members can be re-elected up to a total of three full six-year terms in a row. After 18 continuous years of elected service, a break of at least three years is prescribed before the member can stand again for election.
Activities
Since 2014, the work of the Commission is supported by a small secretariat based at the
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in th ...
, in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. Previously, the secretariat was based in London and funded by the International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. The Commission assists the zoological community "through generation and dissemination of information on the correct use of the scientific names of animals".
The ICZN publishes the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
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 I ...
(usually referred to as "the Code" or "the ICZN Code"), a widely accepted
convention containing the rules for the formal
scientific naming
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bo ...
of all
organism
In biology, an organism () is any living system that functions as an individual entity. All organisms are composed of cells ( cell theory). Organisms are classified by taxonomy into groups such as multicellular animals, plants, and fu ...
s that are treated as
animal
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage ...
s. New editions of the Code are elaborated by the Editorial Committee appointed by the Commission. The current (4th) edition of the Code (1999) was edited by seven people, with work on the next (5th) edition underway.
The Commission also provides rulings on individual problems brought to its attention, as arbitration may be necessary in contentious cases, where strict adherence to the Code would interfere with stability of usage (e.g., see
conserved name
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 whic ...
). These rulings are published in the ''Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature''.
Starting in 2017, the ''Bulletin'' became an online-only journal and joined
BioOne, which hosts volumes 65 (2008) onwards of the ''Bulletin''.
Executive Secretaries
* (–2003) Andrew Wakeham-Dawson
* (2003–2008)
Andrew Polaszek
* (2008–2016) Ellinor Michel
* (2016–2018) Martyn E. Y. Low
* (2018–2022) Gwynne Lim
* (2021–2021) Evan Quah
* (2022–Present) Dominic Y. J. Ng
See also
*
References
External links
Text of the CodeICZN ZooBank*
''The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature''via BioOne
{{DEFAULTSORT:International Commission On Zoological Nomenclature
Zoological nomenclature
Scientific organizations established in 1895
International scientific organizations
Naming organizations