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Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 08:08:50 -0400
From: "Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>
To: "Jaime A. Headden" <qilongia@yahoo.com>, dinosaur@usc.edu, vertpaleo@usc.org
Cc: PhyloCode@ouvaxa.cats.ohiou.edu
Subject: RE: Validity of *Tyrannosaurus stanwinstonorum* Pickering (1996)
> From: Jaime A. Headden [mailto:qilongia@yahoo.com] > Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2003 3:44 AM > > > Pickering supposedly used the name "stanwinstonorum," but does this > pulbication of Glut's validify the name "stanwinstonorus"? This question > is in part also to clarify issues of publication. According to the ICZN, > which Glut follows, Art. 18--19 clarifies what validates publication, and > does not permit the issuance of a newsletter, which Pickering's 1996 > publication accompanied and may be subjected to in essential format; > however, according to Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 101 (in the U.S. Code, > under which the issuance of the booklet is presided upon), in defining > copywrites: > > " 'Publication' is the distribution of copies or phonorecords of a > work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, > lease, or lending. The offering to distribute copies or phonorecords to > a > group of persons for purposes of further distribution, public > performance, or public display, constitutes publication. A public > performance or display of a work does not of itself constitute > publication." > > [citation: http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/101.html] > > By the context of this message, Pickering's work constitutes > publication, but is not reflected by the ICZN's consideration, which holds > a rather stricter interpretation of what is NOT published, though the US > Code under which it was produced does permit it to be. > > Thus, I appeal to these three lists as to their considerations or > interpretations of these qualities. Typically, I can print out a sheet > with a new name, diagnosis, even figure, and say, make "Rinchenia" > official, and be standard by US law to have published, by sending 1,000+ > copies of this to the SVP membership. How far am I from the truth with > this hypothetical scenario, or are we left with a "public rules" standard > of aggrement to what constitutes a validly published name, apart from the > ICZN? > The U.S. Code has no bearing on what constitutes *taxonomic* publication; only a biological nomenclatorial body (such as the ICZN or the future ICPN) has authority in such cases. For an extreme example, if the U.S. Code were used for nomenclature, than Stephen Dedman's 1998 name _Borogovia holtzi_ would be a nomen vanum (given that there is no physical specimen, only a fictional description...). However, just because it is a *copyrighted* work doesn't mean it is a work of taxonomy, and so _B. holtzi_ is not a nomen anything. As a recipient of the Pickering newsletter in which T. stan... was named, I can confirm that it WAS a newslette. It was concerned with rather far-ranging topics (a Nazi/Freudian interpretation of King Kong, racism, and mixed in there some rather unhelpful attempts to coin new species of Allosaurus and Tyrannosaurus). Furthermore, there is a sort of community rules standard: if the community of scientists ignores an (in this case invalidly and inadvisedly proposed) name, then it isn't used. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr. Vertebrate Paleontologist Department of Geology Director, Earth, Life & Time Program University of Maryland College Park Scholars College Park, MD 20742 http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/tholtz.htm http://www.geol.umd.edu/~jmerck/eltsite Phone: 301-405-4084 Email: tholtz@geol.umd.edu Fax (Geol): 301-314-9661 Fax (CPS-ELT): 301-405-0796