Species description
A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered
Naming process
A name of a new species becomes valid (available in zoological terminology) with the date of publication of its formal scientific description. Once the scientist has performed the necessary research to determine that the discovered organism represents a new species, the scientific results are summarized in a scientific manuscript, either as part of a book or as a paper to be submitted to a scientific journal.
A scientific species description must fulfill several formal criteria specified by the
Species names are written in the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, but many species names are based on words from other languages, and are Latinized.
Once the manuscript has been accepted for publication,[3] the new species name is officially created.
Once a species name has been assigned and approved, it can generally not be changed except in the case of error. For example, a species of beetle (Anophthalmus hitleri) was named by a German collector after Adolf Hitler in 1933 when he had recently become chancellor of Germany.[4] It is not clear whether such a dedication would be considered acceptable or appropriate today, but the name remains in use.[4]
Species names have been chosen on many different bases. The most common is a naming for the species' external appearance, its origin, or the species name is a dedication to a certain person. Examples would include a bat species named for the two stripes on its back (
A number of humorous species names also exist. Literary examples include the genus name
Recognizing benefactors through species naming
Species have frequently been named by scientists in recognition of supporters and benefactors. For example, the genus
Non-profit ecological organizations may also allow benefactors to name new species in exchange for financial support for taxonomic research and nature conservation. A German non-profit organisation,
The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants discourages this practice somewhat: "Recommendation 20A. Authors forming generic names should comply with the following ... (h) Not dedicate genera to persons quite unconcerned with botany, mycology, phycology, or natural science in general."[10]
History
Early biologists often published entire volumes or multiple-volume works of descriptions in an attempt to catalog all known species. These catalogs typically featured extensive descriptions of each species and were often illustrated upon reprinting.
The first of these large catalogs was
In 77 AD Pliny the Elder dedicated several volumes of his Natural History to the description of all life forms he knew to exist. He appears to have read Aristotle's work since he writes about many of the same far-away mythological creatures.
Toward the end of the 12th century,
However, the earliest recognized species authority is Carl Linnaeus, who standardized the modern taxonomy system beginning with his Systema Naturae in 1735.[12]
As the catalog of known species was increasing rapidly, it became impractical to maintain a single work documenting every species. Publishing a paper documenting a single species was much faster and could be done by scientists with less broadened scopes of study. For example, a scientist who discovered a new species of insect would not need to understand plants, or frogs, or even insects which did not resemble the species, but would only need to understand closely related insects.
Modern differences
Formal species descriptions today follow strict guidelines set forth by the
Statistics
According to the RetroSOS report,[17] the following numbers of species have been described each year in the 2000s.
Year Total number of species descriptions New insect species described 2000 17,045 8,241 2001 17,003 7,775 2002 16,990 8,723 2003 17,357 8,844 2004 17,381 9,127 2005 16,424 8,485 2006 17,659 8,994 2007 18,689 9,651 2008 18,225 8,794 2009 19,232 9,738
See also
- Binomial nomenclature
- Biological type
- Botanical Latin
- Glossary of scientific naming
- Taxonomic treatment
- Undescribed taxon
- Category:Species described in the 21st century, with subcategories; contains links to earlier centuries
References
- PMID 21886479.
- ^ "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Recommendation 25C". Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- PMID 21669927.
- ^ a b "A beetle called Hitler". Rose George. 13 April 2002. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
- ISBN 978-1402062421.
- ISBN 9780643100060.
- ^ "Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature". Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "Financing conservation efforts by selling naming rights of new species". Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ "Internet casino buys monkey naming rights". MSNBC. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
- ^ (McNeill et al. 2012)
- ^ Keyser, Rudolph; Munch, Peter Andreas; Unger, Carl Rikard (1848). Konungs skuggsjá (in Norwegian).
- ^ Linnaeus, C. (1735). Systema Naturae.
- ^ (McNeill et al. 2012, Article 38)
- ^ International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999). "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Fourth Edition, adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences". article 13
- ISSN 1996-7489.
- ^ Kannan, Ragupathy (2007). New Bird Descriptions Without Proper Voucher Specimens: Reflections After the Bugun Liocichla Case. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 104: 12–18. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/154730#/summary
- ^ Quentin Wheeler; Sara Pennak (18 January 2012). Retro SOS 2000–2009: A Decade of Species Discovery in Review (Report). International Institute for Species Exploration, Arizona State University. Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2013.
Bibliography
- McNeill, 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.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. (2012). International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile 154. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. ISBN 978-3-87429-425-6.
Other sources
- Winston, Judith E. 1999. Describing Species: Practical Taxonomic Procedure For Biologists. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-06824-7
External links
- Works related to descriptions of new species at Wikisource