About the ICZN | International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

<!DOCTYPE html>     <html class="no-js">  <head> <base href="https://www.iczn.org/"> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1" /> <title>About the ICZN | International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature</title> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, maximum-scale=1.0, user-scalable=no" /> <meta name="generator" content="SilverStripe - http://silverstripe.org" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Nunito+Sans:400,400i,600,800,800i" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/resources/themes/iczn/css/normalize.css?m=1543995461" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/resources/themes/iczn/css/font.css?m=1543995461" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/resources/themes/iczn/css/typography.css?m=1544459347" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/resources/themes/iczn/css/main.css?m=1645718100" /> </head> <body class="page_Page">  <div class="top"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="top-top"> <a href="/contact-us/">Contact us</a> <a href="/report-abuse/">Report abuse</a> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="title"><h1>International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature</h1></div> <div class="search-wrapper"> <form id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm" action="/about-the-iczn/CustomSearchForm/" method="get" enctype="application/x-www-form-urlencoded"> <fieldset> <div id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Search_Holder" class="field text form-group--no-label"> <div class="middleColumn"> <input type="text" name="Search" class="text form-group--no-label" id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Search" required="required" aria-required="true" placeholder="Search..." /> </div> </div> <div id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source_Holder" class="field optionset form-group--no-label"> <div class="middleColumn"> <ul class="optionset form-group--no-label" id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source" role="listbox"> <li class="odd valAll"> <input id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source_All" class="radio" name="Source" type="radio" value="All" checked /> <label for="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source_All">All</label> </li> <li class="even valCase"> <input id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source_Case" class="radio" name="Source" type="radio" value="Case" /> <label for="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_Source_Case">Case</label> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> </fieldset> <div class="btn-toolbar"> <input type="submit" name="action_customresults" value="Search" class="action" id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_action_customresults" /> </div> <p id="CustomSearchForm_CustomSearchForm_error" class="message " style="margin:0; display: none"></p> </form> </div> </div> <ul class="menu"> <li><a href="/" >Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/" class="active">About</a></li> <li><a href="/the-code/the-international-code-of-zoological-nomenclature/" >The Code</a></li> <li><a href="/cases/" >Cases</a></li> <li><a href="/httpswww-iczn-orgnomenclatural-notesstagestage/" >Nomenclatural Notes</a></li> <li><a href="/official-lists-and-indexes/" >Official Lists and Indexes</a></li> <li><a href="/submitting-to-the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/" >Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature</a></li> <li><a href="/subscription-and-access/" >Subscription and access</a></li> <li><a href="/other-publications/" >ICZN Publications</a></li> <li><a href="/zoobank/" >ZooBank</a></li> <li><a href="/list-of-available-names/" >List of Available Names</a></li> <li><a href="/outreach/" >FAQs</a></li> <li><a href="/make-a-donation/" >Make a donation</a></li> <li><a href="/iczn-orgelectioncandidates/" >ICZN Commissioner Election Candidates</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="content-wrapper page-with-sidebar"> <div class="wrapper"> <div class="breadcrumb"> <a href="https://www.iczn.org/">Home</a> » About the ICZN </div> <div class="sidebar"> <h2>About</h2> <ul> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/why-is-the-iczn-important/" >Why is the ICZN Important?</a> </li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/history-of-iczn/" >History of the ICZN</a> </li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/commissioners/" >Commissioners</a> </li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/secretariat/" >Secretariat</a> </li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/constitution-and-bylaws/" >Constitution and Bylaws</a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="content typography"> <h1>About the ICZN</h1> <h2>STANDARDS, SENSE AND STABILITY FOR ANIMAL NAMES</h2><p>The ICZN provides and regulates a uniform system of zoological nomenclature ensuring that every animal has a unique and universally accepted scientific name.</p><p>The maintenance of international standards in animal nomenclature is the unique role of the Commission. It is not the role of the Commission to become involved in taxonomic issues except where they have nomenclatural implications.</p><p>The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) was founded in 1895. Its task is to create, publish and, periodically, to revise the <a href="/the-code/the-international-code-of-zoological-nomenclature/">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a>. The Commission also considers and rules on specific cases of nomenclatural uncertainty. These rulings are published as 'Opinions' in the <a rel="noopener" href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/issues" target="_blank">Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature</a>.</p><p> </p><h2>THE COMMISSION</h2><p>The Commission currently comprises 26 members from 20 countries. The work of the Commission is supported by a small Secretariat based at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum in Singapore.</p><h5>The Commission operates in two main ways:</h5><ul> <li>ICZN publishes the <a href="/the-code/the-international-code-of-zoological-nomenclature/">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a> containing the rules universally accepted as governing the application of scientific names to all organisms which are treated as animals.</li> <li>ICZN provides rulings on individual nomenclatural problems brought to its attention, in order to achieve internationally acceptable solutions and stability. These rulings are published as 'Opinions' in the <a rel="noopener" href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/issues" target="_blank">Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature</a>.</li> </ul><p> </p><h2>HOW IT WORKS</h2><p>Several million species of animals are recognised, and more than 2,000 new genus names and 15,000 new species names are added to the zoological literature every year. The<span> </span><a href="/the-code/the-international-code-of-zoological-nomenclature/">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a><span> </span>provides the standard framework by which these animals are named.</p><p>Nevertheless, with so many names, problems are bound to occur. The Commission operates through its quarterly journal, the<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/issues" target="_blank">Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature</a>, in which problems needing a formal decision by the Commission are published for discussion by the zoological community. The BZN provides a platform for presentation of Cases, public input and final results of Commission consideration that is transparent, accessible and archived.</p><p>The Commission is mandated by its scientific membership of the<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="http://www.iubs.org/" target="_blank">International Union of Biological Sciences<span> </span>(IUBS)</a>, and members are elected by zoologists attending General Assemblies of IUBS or other international congresses. Casual vacancies may be filled between congresses. Nominations for membership may be sent to the ICZN Secretariat at any time.</p><p>An overview of the history of the Commission was published in 1995.<span> </span><a href="/about-the-iczn/history-of-iczn/"><em>The Centenary History of the Commission - Towards Stability in the Names of Animals</em></a><span> </span>is<span> </span>obtainable from the Secretariat.</p><p>Copies of the<span> </span><a href="/other-publications/">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a><span> </span>can be obtained from the<span> </span>Secretariat.</p><p>The<span> </span>Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature<span> </span>is freely available until 2007 on the<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/51603/#/summary" target="_blank">Biodiversity Heritage Library</a>, and later issues can be obtained by <a href="/subscription-and-access/">subscription</a>. From 2017, the Bulletin is made available by<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://bioone.org/journals/the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/issues" target="_blank">BioOne</a>.</p><p> </p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="footer clear"> <div class="wrapper"> <p>ICZN is supported by the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore (Company Registration No. 200604346E).<br>ICZN is an Associate Participant to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) & a Scientific Member of the International Union of Biological Science (IUBS).<br>Correspondence to the ICZN should be directed to the Secretary (iczn@nus.edu.sg / +65 6518 8364).</p> <ul class="fmenu"> <li><a href="/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="/about-the-iczn/">About</a></li> <li><a href="/the-code/the-international-code-of-zoological-nomenclature/">The Code</a></li> <li><a href="/cases/">Cases</a></li> <li><a href="/httpswww-iczn-orgnomenclatural-notesstagestage/">Nomenclatural Notes</a></li> <li><a href="/official-lists-and-indexes/">Official Lists and Indexes</a></li> <li><a href="/submitting-to-the-bulletin-of-zoological-nomenclature/">Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature</a></li> <li><a href="/subscription-and-access/">Subscription and access</a></li> <li><a href="/other-publications/">ICZN Publications</a></li> <li><a href="/zoobank/">ZooBank</a></li> <li><a href="/list-of-available-names/">List of Available Names</a></li> <li><a href="/outreach/">FAQs</a></li> <li><a href="/make-a-donation/">Make a donation</a></li> <li><a href="/iczn-orgelectioncandidates/">ICZN Commissioner Election Candidates</a></li> </ul> <div class="copyright"> <a href="//creativecommons.org/licences/by/3.0/" class="cc-large" target="_blank"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="/resources/themes/iczn/img/cc-88x31.png" alt="Creative Commons Licence" width="88px" height="31px"></a> <p>Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution CC BY Licence.</p> </div> </div> </div>  <script type="application/javascript" src="/resources/themes/iczn/javascript/modernizr.js?m=1543995461"></script> <script type="application/javascript" src="/resources/themes/iczn/javascript/jquery-min.js?m=1543995461"></script> <script type="application/javascript" src="/resources/themes/iczn/javascript/main.js?m=1543995461"></script> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=UA-135560656-1"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-135560656-1'); </script> </body> </html>

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About the ICZN | International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature