Introduction

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.The codes are elaborated by International Commission of
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN commission):ICZN commission is powered by International
Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS).
International code of Zoological Nomenclature
In late 1830’s zoologists felt the need for standardization of the names given to the animals. At the First
International Zoological congress held at Paris, Moscow zoologists from around the world established and
accepted standard international rules which replaced all the conventional and unwritten rules. Later in 1905,
International Rules on Zoological nomenclature were published in French, German and English. These rules
underwent subsequent transformations at various zoological congresses. In 1961 these rules were
successively replaced by First edition of International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) written in
French and English. Currently 4th edition of the codes is in place. These codes are elaborated by
International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN Commission). The ICZN Commission is
powered by International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS). The rules specified in the code are
applicable to all the zoological names.

History

PARTS OF ICZN
Consist of 3 main parts:
The Code Proper
Includes 'Preamble' followed by 90 consecutively numbered.
'Article' grouped in 18 chapters.
Appendices
3 appendices, first 2 having status of recommendations & 3rd is the constitution of the Commission.
cs Glossary
GR Terms used in the text are clearly defined in the 'Glossary'.
Principles of ICZN
The following are six main principles of ICZN:
Principle of Binomial nomenclature
According to this principle, the scientific name of a species is a combination of two names. The
name of the species is composed of Generic name and Specific name.
Principle of Priority
According to this principle, the correct formal scientific name is the oldest available valid name
Principle of coordination
According to this principle, when a new zoological name is published, it automatically establishes
all corresponding names in relevant ranks.
Principle of First Reviser
This principle is applied in case of conflicts between published names. When a conflict arises
between two simultaneously published divergent names, the first subsequent author can decide
which name has precedence.
Principle of Homonymy
According to this principle, the name of each taxon must be unique and must not be replicate or
duplicate of any other family, group or species.
Principle of Typification
According to this principle, each nominal taxon in the family group, genus group or species group
must have a prefixed name-bearing type. This helps in determining what name it applies to.
 
The Nomenclature

The naming of the living organisms with a distinctive name is known as nomenclature.
Nomenclature is very important for classifying any organism. Generally two types of names are for
any given organism.
1. Common or vernacular name
2. Scientific name
The organisms which are well known have many different names in different countries and different
languages. Also same organism may be popular by different names in different parts of the world.
This creates a great problem of misunderstanding. The earliest solution to such problem was
assigning scientific names to the organism so that it can be studied easily throughout the world.
The naming of the organism with distinctive scientific name is called as Nomenclature. Various
systems have been proposed for naming the organisms like,
Mononomial nomenclature: The system of assigning a name of one word to an organism is called
as Mononomial nomenclature. For writing the names of taxa or supra-specific groups, this
nomenclature is used. For example, writing the name of the family, phylum or class.
Binomial nomenclature: This is the most widely used system of nomenclature throughout the
world. The system of assigning a name of two words to an organism is called as binomial
nomenclature. This system of writing scientific names was adopted and popularized by Swedish
Botanist Carolus Linnaeus in his book Systema Naturae.
In this system each organism is provided with two names also known as “Binomen”. The first word
of the name refers to the Genus name (Noun) and the second word refers to the Species name
(Adjective). The genus name begins with a capital letter and the species name begins with a small
letter. Both the names must be in Latin and written in italics. Sometimes also the name of the
taxonomist follows the scientific name in full or in abbreviation form.
For example the name of the dog is Canis Familiaris. The first name Canis is genus name and the
second name Familiaris is Species name. Another example is the name of Lion in which the name
of the taxonomist is also included beside the scientific name. The scientific name of Lion is Felis
leo Linnaeus. Felis is the genus name, leo is the species name and Linnaeus is the taxonomist who
studied it. Even Linnaeus changed his real name Karl Von Linne as the binomial nomenclature to
Carolus Linnaeus.
In 1895, the Third International Congress of Zoology appointed a committee to draw up the
International Rules of Zoological Nomenclature. These were adopted by the fifth international
congress of zoology in 1901, as the international code of zoological nomenclature. This code
established a permanent International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature that is vested with
the power to interpret, amend or suspend provisions of the code.
Trinomial nomenclature: This system of nomenclature is the extension of the binomial
nomenclature. This system permits the designation of subspecies with a three worded name called
as “Trinomen”. For certain organisms which have subspecies, and the names of these subspecies is
written after the name of the genus (Generic name) and the species name (Specific name). These
subspecies occur in different regions and have different characteristics. This system of writing
names in three words is known as the Trinomial nomenclature.
For example, the name of common crow is Corvus splendens. It is found in India, Sri Lanka and
Burma, but is different in all these locations. It is therefore divided into three subspecies. In India it
is called as Corvus splendens splendens. In Burma it is called as Corvus splendens incolens. In Sri
Lanka it is known as Corvus splendens protegatus.
 
Rules for Scientific nomenclature
When we are writing the scientific names it is necessary to follow certain international rules which
are:
1. The scientific name (Genus’s name, Species name and Subspecies name) should be written
or printed in Italics.
2. The genus name or generic name must start with the capital letter.
3. The species name or the specific name must start with the small letter.
 4. The generic name should be followed by the specific name.
5. In case different scientists have named the same genus or species differently, the names
which are published first are accepted.
6. A family name is formed by suffix-IDEA to the name of the genus and the name of the sub
family is formed by suffix-INAE.

Important of ICZN
The system of binominal nomenclature for animals (living and extinct) is among the most succinct
of communication systems that has been devised. With just two names (e.g. Cancer pagurus), a
unique qualifier for each and every organism that shares the planet with us, together with its ‘birth
certificate’—the scholarly work and year in which it was first described can be communicated (in
this case Linnaeus, 1758). Each name is unambiguous and unique: one organism, one name. Today
we have about 1.5 million living animal species named. Some experts estimate we have some 8–10
million living species on Earth—which would mean over 80% of all life forms remain unnamed!
And this does not even count the hundreds of thousands of extinct animal species that have been
described.
This time-tested system (since 1758) has served all fields of human enterprise which in one way or
another involved a living organism—medicine, zoology, epidemiology, conservation, taxonomy,
phylogenetics, and genetics—for two-and-a-half centuries. The system is managed by the
International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), established in 1895. The
Commissioners, currently 26 senior scientists from 20 countries who are experts in different animal
groups (and all of whom do this on their own time, with no pay) takes into account priority,
prevailing usage, and other factors to help maintain nomenclatural stability to ensure that scientists
and other users of names do not get confused. The major way these ends are achieved is the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, now in its 4th edition (1999), with a 2012
amendment on electronic publications, which is authored by the ICZN.
The ICZN does more than just ensure that names are unique: the Commission acts as the “Supreme
Court” that manages and resolves disagreements pertaining to zoological nomenclature, some
disagreements arising because strict application of the Code will create ambiguity or instability.
Among these problems are some that have serious implications for business, commerce, and
conservation. Commissioners discuss the cases, address concerns, listen to pleas and arguments
from scientists, managers and public, and vote on the cases. Their votes are final and binding: once
the Commission has made the decision, all biologists are obliged to follow the ruling for the names
to be used. In some cases, there are legal consequences for ICZN decisions. Notable nomenclatural
quandaries handled by the ICZN have included the names of the malarial parasites (the
name Plasmodium as used today) and more recently, Drosophila (the ubiquitous laboratory fly).
Even more challenging was the recent case of the highly endangered Giant Land Tortoise in
Seychelles, its name now fixed as Geochelone (Aldabrachelys) gigantea.
Conclusion
Taxonomists and other users of the Code will find in this edition, as in the previous ones, a
compromise between adventure and conservatism that will not please everybody. Yet, in this
compromise, the Code reflects the many contemporary voices of practising zoologists heard by the
Commission in reaching its conclusions on proposals made by the Editorial Committee and
published for comment in the 1995 Discussion Draft. Like its predecessors, the resulting Code is a
mixture of clarifications of what was already in previous editions and new measures designed to
meet the challenges of modern science.
The fourth edition will not be the last word. Zoologists generally, and the Commission in particular,
will go on refining the wording of the Code to further reduce ambiguity and to make good
deficiencies in its treatment of products of the past and present (and, as far as they can be foreseen,
of the future). Both science itself and the social and technical systems within which scientists work
are constantly changing, and the Code must continue to evolve to provide for these changes.
Zoologists may remain confident that it will do so.
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