[Taxacom] italicizing names

[Francisco Welter-Schultes]

This is a convention from long time ago, long before the zoological 
rules were fixed, and has not much to do with a different degree of 
Latinization. Zoological names can be arbitrary combinations of letters.
In the course of many years it was found useful, in all fields of 
organisms, to use italics for the species and genera. It is indeed 
useful because in some cases names of superfamilies or higher categories 
cannot be otherwise distinguished from a genus. Names like 
Acanthocephala, Acrania, Chitonoidea, Ciliata, Delphinoidea, Mecoptera, 
Radiolaria, Trichoptera or Trochoidea have a different meaning if 
formatted in normal type or in italics.

The code's Recommendation for the use of italics is found in Appendix B  
No. 6. There is no answer to the question "why".

Francisco

Francisco Welter-Schultes
Zoologisches Institut
Berliner Str. 28, 37073 Goettingen
Phone +49 551 395536



Am 08.05.2015 um 17:12 schrieb Patrick, Brian:
> Hello everyone,
>
> A colleague writing (revising, actually) an introductory biology textbook has agreed that my suggestion of why species names are italicized would be an interesting addition to the introductory text.  Of course, this begs the question of exactly why we italicize below the sub-family designation.
>
> I would like to provide this colleague with the wording of the ICZN as it may pertain to this particular question.  I thought that the Code made specific reference to genera and specific epithets as Latinized words, thereby necessitating italicizing the names.  For names above the rank of genus group, as I read the code it only states that there should be standardized endings (articles 4, 11, 29, 31.1, etc...), but no explanation of why these, too, are not italicized.
>
> My assumption is that the genus and specific epithet are specifically to be Latinized, while others are merely words that have standardized ending, not necessarily making them Latinized.
>
> This seems overly simplistic, but an explanation would be useful.  Are there specific articles of the ICZN that govern this and that I am missing?
>
> Thank you for your time!
>
> Best regards, Brian
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> L. Brian Patrick, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor of Biology and Chair
> Department of Biological Sciences
> Dakota Wesleyan University
> 1200 W. University Ave.
> Mitchell, SD  57301
>
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