The International Code of Phylogenetic Nomenclature
The ICPN, or PhyloCode, is a draft code of rules and recommendations for phylogenetic nomenclature.
- The ICPN will only regulate clade names. Names for para- or polyphyletic taxa, and names for species (which may or may not be clades), will not be considered, at least not at first. This means that the regulation of species names will be left, for the time being, to the rank-based codes of nomenclature.
- The Principle of Priority will be introduced for names and for definitions. The starting point for priority will be the publication date of the ICPN.
- Definitions for existing names, and new names along with their definitions, will have to be published in peer-reviewed works (on or after the starting date) and will have to be registered in an online database in order to be valid.
The number of supporters for widespread adoption of the PhyloCode is still small, and it is uncertain (as of May 2013) when the code will be implemented and how widely it will be followed.
Read more about this topic: Phylogenetic Nomenclature
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“Motion or change, and identity or rest, are the first and second secrets of nature: Motion and Rest. The whole code of her laws may be written on the thumbnail, or the signet of a ring.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)