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A species description is a formal scientific description of a newly encountered species, typically articulated through a scientific publication. Its purpose is to provide a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species that have been previously described or related species. For a species to be considered valid, a species description must follow established guidelines and naming conventions dictated by relevant nomenclature codes. These include the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals, the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) for plants, and the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) for viruses. A species description often includes photographs or other illustrations of type material and information regarding where this material is deposited. The publication in which the species is described gives the new species a formal scientific name. Some 1.9 million species have been identified and described, out of some 8.7 million that may actually exist.[1] Additionally, over five billion species have gone extinct over the history of life on Earth.[2]
Naming process
[edit source]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 nomenclature codes, e.g. selection of at least one type specimen. These criteria are intended to ensure that the species name is clear and unambiguous, for example, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature states that "Authors should exercise reasonable care and consideration in forming new names to ensure that they are chosen with their subsequent users in mind and that, as far as possible, they are appropriate, compact, euphonious, memorable, and do not cause offence."[3]
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,[4] 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.[5] It is not clear whether such a dedication would be considered acceptable or appropriate today, but the name remains in use.[5]
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 (Saccopteryx bilineata), a frog named for its Bolivian origin (Phyllomedusa boliviana), and an ant species dedicated to the actor Harrison Ford (Pheidole harrisonfordi). A scientific name in honor of a person or persons is known as a taxonomic eponym or eponymic; patronym and matronym are the gendered terms for this.[6][7]
A number of humorous species names also exist. Literary examples include the genus name Borogovia (an extinct dinosaur), which is named after the borogove, a mythical character from Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky". A second example, Macrocarpaea apparata (a tall plant) was named after the magical spell "to apparate" from the Harry Potter novels by J. K. Rowling, as it seemed to appear out of nowhere.[8] In 1975, the British naturalist Sir Peter Scott proposed the binomial name Nessiteras rhombopteryx ("Ness monster with diamond-shaped fin") for the Loch Ness Monster; it was soon spotted that it was an anagram of "monster hoax by Sir Peter S".
Recognizing benefactors through species naming
[edit source]Species have frequently been named by scientists in recognition of supporters and benefactors. For example, the genus Victoria (a flowering waterplant) was named in honour of Queen Victoria of Great Britain. More recently, a species of lemur (Avahi cleesei) was named after the actor John Cleese in recognition of his work to publicize the plight of lemurs in Madagascar.
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, BIOPAT – Patrons for Biodiversity, has raised more than $450,000 for research and conservation through sponsorship of over 100 species using this model.[9] An individual example of this system is the Plecturocebus aureipalatii (or "monkey of the Golden Palace"), which was named after the Golden Palace casino in recognition of a $650,000 contribution to the Madidi National Park in Bolivia in 2005.[10]
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."[11]
History
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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 Aristotle's History of Animals, published around 343 BC. Aristotle included descriptions of creatures, mostly fish and invertebrates, in his homeland, and several mythological creatures rumored to live in far-away lands, such as the manticore.
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, Konungs skuggsjá, an Old Norse philosophical didactic work, featured several descriptions of the whales, seals, and monsters of the Icelandic seas. These descriptions were brief and often erroneous, and they included a description of the mermaid and a rare island-like sea monster called hafgufu. The author was hesitant to mention the beast (known today to be fictitious) for fear of its size, but felt it was important enough to be included in his descriptions.[12]
However, the earliest recognized species authority is Carl Linnaeus, who standardized the modern taxonomy system beginning with his Systema Naturae in 1735.[13]
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
[edit source]Formal species descriptions today follow strict guidelines set forth by the codes of nomenclature. Very detailed formal descriptions are made by scientists, who usually study the organism closely for a considerable time. A diagnosis may be used instead of,[14] or as well as[15] the description. A diagnosis specifies the distinction between the new species and other species, and it does not necessarily have to be based on morphology.[16] In recent times, new species descriptions have been made without voucher specimens, and this has been controversial.[17]
Statistics
[edit source]Analysis of species databases reveals that new species descriptions is increasing and currently at an all-time peak[18]
Year Total new species descriptions Animals Plants Fungi Protists Chromista Bacteria Archea Cumulative species descriptions 1920 9685 6693 2086 855 2 41 8 0 229280 1921 8915 6092 1866 836 12 103 6 0 232103 1922 11068 7698 2274 802 15 268 10 1 235473 1923 9910 6902 2246 577 6 161 18 0 238481 1924 11173 7914 2236 910 19 82 12 0 241740 1925 11094 8215 1995 785 9 83 7 0 244619 1926 11900 9054 1682 956 10 180 18 0 247465 1927 10957 8099 1891 790 8 158 11 0 250323 1928 11499 8367 2053 841 7 211 20 0 253455 1929 11144 7719 2574 511 28 303 9 0 256880 1930 10275 7612 1736 582 8 326 11 0 259543 1931 11286 7991 2093 895 11 290 4 2 262838 1932 11225 8085 2178 610 20 323 9 0 265978 1933 9811 7297 1725 537 2 236 14 0 268492 1934 11565 8047 2083 1276 4 136 19 0 272010 1935 11018 8267 1998 504 9 216 24 0 274761 1936 11553 8280 2608 534 12 108 10 1 278034 1937 10280 7558 2034 549 2 126 11 0 280756 1938 11554 9008 1795 626 1 116 8 0 283302 1939 10953 8152 1873 815 5 99 9 0 286103 1940 10027 7308 1948 597 5 154 14 1 288822 1941 8569 6307 1475 696 8 63 20 0 291084 1942 7373 5333 1607 372 4 47 10 0 293124 1943 6001 4400 1178 367 4 50 2 0 294725 1944 5305 3754 1086 383 0 68 14 0 296276 1945 4669 3324 765 525 2 49 4 0 297621 1946 4785 3471 777 479 14 37 7 0 298935 1947 5786 4048 847 800 4 78 7 2 300673 1948 6006 4137 1104 617 2 135 11 0 302542 1949 7091 5201 1370 446 3 63 8 0 304432 1950 8574 5742 1865 728 6 218 15 0 307264 1951 9093 6646 1532 735 4 162 13 1 309711 1952 9087 6880 1210 892 2 80 23 0 311918 1953 8962 6512 1566 772 2 81 29 0 314368 1954 9334 7083 1147 909 8 170 17 0 316619 1955 9793 7512 1255 907 9 79 31 0 318900 1956 9779 7923 1093 636 15 81 31 0 320756 1957 9470 7033 1357 824 16 150 90 0 323193 1958 9956 7636 1416 740 9 119 35 1 325513 1959 9742 7672 952 1020 8 60 30 0 327583 1960 10338 7963 1274 899 12 157 33 0 329958 1961 9943 7528 1319 903 23 135 35 0 332373 1962 10777 8709 1102 771 15 143 37 0 334441 1963 10094 7813 1308 835 10 80 48 0 336722 1964 11004 8517 1346 992 18 91 40 0 339209 1965 11709 9356 1369 805 15 122 42 0 341562 1966 10144 7698 1495 812 17 81 41 0 344008 1967 11106 8868 1321 787 30 70 30 0 346246 1968 12045 9654 1284 933 45 102 26 1 348637 1969 10149 7900 1287 811 17 86 48 0 350886 1970 10578 8458 1132 802 28 107 50 1 353006 1971 11133 8856 1108 1040 27 62 40 0 355283 1972 11784 8656 1807 1165 21 103 30 2 358411 1973 11130 8782 1287 907 18 102 34 0 360759 1974 11114 8721 1432 785 21 86 68 1 363152 1975 11051 8053 1379 1166 33 382 36 2 366150 1976 10270 7882 1449 798 34 71 36 0 368538 1977 13400 9029 1558 973 66 1752 21 1 372909 1978 11552 8540 2039 823 27 84 39 0 375921 1979 12789 9671 1839 1036 47 161 34 1 379039 1980 12353 8969 2275 961 30 90 26 2 382423 1981 13003 9634 1878 822 46 554 64 5 385792 1982 12255 9093 2173 840 20 55 71 3 388954 1983 13368 9983 2016 1129 49 82 100 9 392339 1984 12531 9531 1995 756 31 124 83 11 395339 1985 12272 9159 2041 852 24 88 102 6 398452 1986 13724 10326 2132 1003 48 111 92 12 401850 1987 13548 10175 2101 1091 29 78 72 2 405223 1988 13714 10277 2127 960 27 217 93 13 408660 1989 12970 9091 2192 1432 31 119 94 11 412539 1990 13350 10019 2167 915 55 94 90 10 415870 1991 13051 9729 2325 808 29 86 69 5 419192 1992 12970 10189 1859 745 27 67 81 2 421973 1993 13869 10608 2049 979 23 94 113 3 425234 1994 13614 10633 1731 969 26 162 88 5 428215 1995 13293 10027 2064 905 32 123 136 6 431481 1996 12729 9174 2237 1097 35 38 137 11 435036 1997 13026 9527 2065 1172 14 74 165 9 438535 1998 13749 10568 1994 949 27 39 154 18 441716 1999 13176 9659 2233 983 23 69 197 12 445233 2000 13301 10184 1653 1135 35 68 210 16 448350 2001 13544 9834 2146 1156 15 132 245 16 452060 2002 14307 10908 1838 1056 23 190 275 17 455459 2003 13611 10059 1904 1245 30 50 316 7 459011 2004 14820 11007 2035 1335 18 42 372 11 462824 2005 13353 9896 1966 908 29 72 466 16 466281 2006 14703 10850 2182 1063 21 48 524 15 470134 2007 15044 10786 2257 1343 22 53 558 25 474392 2008 15178 11110 2113 1317 22 57 542 17 478460 2009 15534 11126 2278 1437 23 52 607 11 482868 2010 15115 11123 2204 1140 27 46 554 21 486860 2011 15978 11905 2100 1327 19 44 559 24 490933 2012 15626 10852 2394 1699 25 38 606 12 495707 2013 15281 10290 2460 1645 26 36 799 25 500698 2014 15607 10505 2465 1810 26 22 738 41 505800 2015 16798 11056 2774 1967 16 35 912 38 511542 2016 16429 10098 2568 2722 18 42 959 22 517873 2017 16617 10571 2727 2551 11 47 696 14 523919 2018 15406 9910 2941 2452 26 29 48 0 529415 2019 13869 8952 2511 2333 24 18 30 1 534332 2020 17044 10936 2714 3127 9 16 242 0 540440
See also
[edit source]- 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
[edit source]- ↑ Mora, C.; et al. (23 August 2011). "How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?". PLOS Biology. 9 (8) e1001127. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127. PMC 3160336. PMID 21886479.
- ↑ McKinney, Michael L. (1997). "How do rare species avoid extinction? A paleontological view". In Kunin, W. E.; Gaston, K. J. (eds.). The Biology of Rarity. pp. 110–129. doi:10.1007/978-94-011-5874-9_7. ISBN 978-94-010-6483-5. Archived from the original on 3 February 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ↑ "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Recommendation 25C". Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ One example of an abstract of an article naming a new species can be found at Wellner, S.; Lodders, N.; Kampfer, P. (13 June 2011). "Methylobacterium cerastii sp. nov., isolated from the leaf surface of Cerastium holosteoides". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 62 (Pt 4): 917–924. doi:10.1099/ijs.0.030767-0. PMID 21669927.
- 1 2 George, Rose (13 April 2002). "A beetle called Hitler". Rose George. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2015.
- ↑ Capinera, John L., ed. (2008). Encyclopedia of Entomology (2nd ed.). Dordrecht: Springer. p. 2765. ISBN 978-1-4020-6242-1.
- ↑ Strahan, Ronald; Conder, Pamela, eds. (2007). Dictionary of Australian and New Guinean Mammals. Collingwood, Victoria: Csiro Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-643-10006-0.
- ↑ "Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature". Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "Financing conservation efforts by selling naming rights of new species". Archived from the original on 16 January 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ↑ "Internet casino buys monkey naming rights". MSNBC. Archived from the original on 1 May 2025. 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". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2014. article 13
- ↑ Lawley, Jonathan W.; Gamero-Mora, Edgar; Maronna, Maximiliano M.; Chiaverano, Luciano M.; Stampar, Sérgio N.; Hopcroft, Russell R.; Collins, Allen G.; Morandini, André C. (29 September 2022). "Morphology is not always useful for diagnosis, and that's ok: Species hypotheses should not be bound to a class of data. Reply to Brown and Gibbons (S Afr J Sci. 2022;118(9/10), Art. #12590)" (PDF). South African Journal of Science. 118 (9/10). doi:10.17159/sajs.2022/14495. ISSN 1996-7489. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2025. Retrieved 21 April 2025.
- ↑ 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 Archived 3 February 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Li, Xin; Yang, Ding; Wang, Liang; Wiens, John J. (5 December 2025). "The past and future of known biodiversity: Rates, patterns, and projections of new species over time". Science Advances. 11 (49). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adz3071. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
Bibliography
[edit source]- 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
[edit source]- Winston, Judith E. 1999. Describing Species: Practical Taxonomic Procedure For Biologists. Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-06824-7
External links
[edit source]
Works related to descriptions of new species at Wikisource
