GANDOLFO, MARIA A. L. H. Bailey Hortorium, Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853. - Fossils and the Linnaean system of nomenclature.
For the last 90 years, since the publication of the first
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature in 1906, the taxonomy of
fossils has been treated with special care. Although the six
principles are applied to fossils in the same way as for any other
taxonomic group of plants, there are several recommendations
specifically for fossil plants, among them the definition of what
constitutes a taxon. Because of both consistency and flexibility, the
Linnaean system of Nomenclature, based on agreed-upon rules and
recommendations and modifications over the years has offered a
relatively stable system to name fossils. During the last 10 years a
new nomenclature system has been proposed, now dubbed the PhyloCode.
The PhyloCode as posted on the web does not address numerous of the
major issues regarding fossils that have been treated in the current
code. The proponents of this new system also claim that the Linnaean
system is archaic and insufficient for modern classification. One of
their most prevalent arguments is that this new system is more stable
than the Linnaean one. However, because the inclusion of fossil taxa
in phylogenetic analyses is often difficult, and their proposed system
of designating groups requires phylogenetic topologies, fossil
taxonomy will be inherently unstable under the new system. Other
problems with the PhyloCode include the method of designating and
naming of clades, since the fossil record is imperfect and as new
fossils are discovered, the inclusion of these new fossils may
arbitrarily change the composition of clades and therefore add more
instability to the system. Examples and comparisions betwenn both
systems will be presented.
Key words: fossils, Linnaean system, nomenclature, taxonomy