Abstract
WE have received a sample part of the “Nomenclator Zoologicus”, edited by Dr. S. A. Neave. of which the first volume is about to be published by the Zoological Society. The work, which will be completed in four volumes, aims at giving “as complete a record as possible of the bibliographical origins of the name of every genus and subgenus in zoology published since 1758, the date of the tenth edition of Linnæus’ ‘Systema Naturæ’, up to the end of the year 1935”. Up to 1850, not only the generic but also the specific names are indexed in Sherborn's monumental “Index Animalium”. Since that date, however, the scale of zoological publication has increased so vastly that a continuation of “Sherborn” would be a task of overwhelming magnitude Even in the all-important matter of generic names the systematist has been compelled to spend much’ time and labour in tracing their origin and in trying to avoid re-inventing old names for new genera. The “Nomenclator Animalium generum et subgenerum” published by the Prussian Academy of Sciences, begun in 1926, was designed to remedy this state of affairs, but it has been making its appearance in so leisurely a fashion that, although already thirteen years out of date, it is not yet completed. Dr. Neave, who has had the assistance of the specialists on the staff of the British Museum (Natural History), as well as of many other zoologists in Great Britain and abroad, hopes to complete publication by the end of 1940. Apart from cross-references and variations in spelling, he and his collaborators have collected about 192,000 generic names, of which at least 5,000 have escaped inclusion in former nomenclators and in the “Zoological Record”. No doubt many omissions remain to be discovered, and zoologists are asked to send a note of any they may find so that they may be included in a supplementary list at the end of the last volume.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
“Nomenclator Zoologicus”. Nature 144, 279 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144279b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144279b0