International Commission
on Zoological Nomenclature

What is ZooBank?

ZooBank is intended as the official registry of Zoological Nomenclature, according to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Learn more about ZooBank here.

What Gets Registered in ZooBank?

Currently, ZooBank accomodates the registration of four different kinds of data objects:

• Nomenclatural Acts: Published usages of scientific names for animals, which represent nomenclatural acts as governed by the ICZN Code of Nomenclature. Most of these acts are ‘original descriptions’ of new scientific names for animals, but other acts may include emendations, lectotypifications, and other acts as governed by the ICZN Code.
• Publications: Publications that contain Nomenclatural Acts, as defined above.
• Authors: Names of Authors of Publications, as defined above.
• Type Specimens: Type specimens for scientific names of animals. The registration of Type Specimens is considered provisional, with the expectation that natural history collections holding Types will eventually implement their own registries, to which ZooBank will link.

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