CANTINO, PHILIP D.* AND MICHAEL J. DONOGHUE. Department of Environmental and Plant Biology, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138. - Objectives and progress of the PhyloCode project.
The PhyloCode, a code of phylogenetic nomenclature, has been in
development since 1997. A preliminary draft will soon be available on
the Internet (http://www.ohio.edu/phylocode/), probably by the time of
this meeting. It is hoped that many members of the systematics
community will examine and comment on it. Changes will undoubtedly be
made in response to public input before the code goes into operation
several years from now. Phylogenetic nomenclature is designed to name
the parts of the tree of life by explicit reference to phylogeny. The
PhyloCode will facilitate the naming of clades and promote clear
communication about phylogeny. The need for a more efficient system
for naming clades has recently become critical because of the dramatic
and escalating improvement in our knowledge of phylogeny. The
PhyloCode will make it possible to name clades as they are discovered,
without changing the names of other clades. It will also allow those
who favor monophyletic taxonomy to name the clades they wish to name
without being required to name groups they do not accept. The
PhyloCode is designed for concurrent use with the ICBN, ICZN, etc.
The first edition of the PhyloCode will govern only the naming of
clades, but the intent is to add rules governing species names in the
future.
Key words: cladistics, nomenclature, PhyloCode, phylogenetic nomenclature, phylogeny