description in chinese papers

[Barry M. OConnor]

At 9:08 AM +1100 2/10/01, Vr. Richard Bejsak-Colloredo-Mansfeld wrote:
>I have similar problem...
>This new species never appeared in Zoological records, is they are valid or
>not?
>If someone translate the descriptions and publish, who will be the author?

Having grown up trusting the Zoological Record, I have recently discovered
how incomplete it is at catching validly published names from "non-Western"
publications.  After requesting reprints from colleagues in China, Egypt,
Pakistan, and even Eastern Europe, I received quite a few papers which had
never been picked up by Zool. Record.  I did contact the publisher about
this and was told that if the authors or anyone else would send them the
reprints, they would be included.
        There was a discussion of "registration" of new names using Zool.
Record in the context of the last revision of the ICZN.  The idea that a
new name would not be valid until it appeared in Zool.Record was not
approved, and given their lack of complete coverage of taxonomic
publications, it was probably a good idea not to trust them with any formal
"registration" function.
        Regarding translations, the ICZN does not have a "language"
requirement, so the original description in any language, as long as it
meets the other criteria of availability, is the valid publication, and its
author is the author of the species.

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So many mites, so little time!
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Barry M. OConnor
Professor & Curator             phone: (734) 763-4354
Museum of Zoology               FAX: (734) 763-4080
University of Michigan          e-mail: bmoc at umich.edu
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079  USA