Declaration 44 - Amendment of Article 74.7.3

DECLARATION 44:

1. The wording of Article 74.7.3 is hereby amended to read ‘contain an express statement of deliberate designation (merely citing a specimen as “lectotype” is insufficient)’.
2. An Example is added directly below Article 74.7.3 to read ‘Example. A statement such as “lectotype hereby designated”, “lectotype by present designation”, “I choose specimen X as lectotype” would fulfil this requirement, but “lectotype: specimen X” would not’.
3. The following Recommendation is added to read ‘Recommendation 74G. Not merely for curatorial purposes. The designation of lectotypes should be done as part of a revisionary or other taxonomic work to enhance the stability of nomenclature, and not for mere curatorial convenience’.
4. These amendments are backdated and apply to all works published after 31 December 1999.

HISTORY OF THE PROPOSAL

A proposal to delete Article 74.7.3 of the Code was made (see BZN 58 (2): 133; Zoosystematica Rossica, 10 (1): 1–7) on the grounds that it was unnecessary and required repetitious statements to be made when several lectotypes were being designated in a revisionary work. The proposal was widely supported by zoologists (see BZN 58 (2): 133–140). A draft proposal to amend Article 74.7.3 was published in BZN: 59 (4): 278–279. On 8 April 2002, Commissioners were asked to vote on whether they considered the proposed amendments to constitute a minor change and asked to comment on the wording of the draft proposal. Over two-thirds of the Commissioners voted in agreement that it was a minor change to the Code and accepted the proposal's wording (20 FOR, 3 AGAINST and 5 did not vote; see BZN: 59 (4): 279–280). Under Articles 78.3 and 80.1 of the Code, a Declaration (provisional amendment to the Code) was drafted by the Executive Secretary and circulated to the Commission for its approval on 22 July 2003. The Declaration was approved and ratified on 13 May 2007 by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), the international body from which the Commission derives its functions and powers (Article 77 of the Code).

Declaration 44 was published in 2003, BZN 60(4): 263 and may be accessed via the BHL.