ICZN=International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.  It is made
up of taxonomic specialists from around the world who develop and
update the rules and who vote on decisions where the rules are unclear
or where an exception is needed.  I think there's about 40 people on
the commission, expert in various taxonomic groups.

> Think you got a point here, Pete. Just remebered the Dayakia braammorrisse in
> my site has 2 authors with 2 different dates, cause it got corrected from a
> Hemiplecta braammorrisi  Sarasin P & F, 1899 to a Dyakia braammorrisi less
> than 10 years ago.

Plants are covered by a different code, in which you must cite the
person who made the current genus assignment as well as the original
describer of a species.  For animals, the full citation of a name
includes the original describer but not the person who made the latest
genus assignment.  However, if you are writing something taxonomic, it
is useful to know who made the genus assignment, and mention of that
author is desirable; it's just written out as "Jones (1965) assigned
this species to genus Xus" rather than abbreviated into the name.
Similarly, if someone proposes a name at a particular taxonomic level
(species, genus, or family), he/she is the official author of that
name at any rank within the level.  However, in a taxonomic context
it's useful to also know who asssigned a given rank to the name.
Thus, if Psmith created a subfamily Xinae, and Emsworth later decided
it should be a superfamily, the superfamily Xoidea is attributed to
Psmith as well, but anyone who wants informaiton about the superfamily
will want to have the citation of Emsworth, too.
--
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections
University of Alabama
"I think of my happy condition, surrounded by acres of clams"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------