New IUBS Members

 

The IUBS 29th General Assembly approved the admission of the following Members:

 

  1. “The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts”, Department of Natural Sciences, Croatia, for Ordinary membership

 

  1. “Systematics and Evolutionary Biogeographical Association (SEBA)”, France, for Scientific membership

 

  1. “Ecuadorian Foundation for the Development of the Biological Sciences (FUNBOTANICA)”, Ecuador, for Associate membership

 

 

 

Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Admissions

As approved by the IUBS 29th General Assembly, 9-13 May, 2007 held in Washington DC, USA.

 

The Committee examined the applications and the supporting documents and based on this examination makes the following recommendations:

 

  1. The Department of Natural Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatia, fulfils the requirements of Ordinary Member of the IUBS. It has also constituted a National Committee, as required by the IUBS By-Laws 2.

 

The Committee, therefore, recommends to the 29th General Assembly that the Department of Natural Sciences of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatia, be admitted as Ordinary Member of the IUBS.

 

  1. The Systematics and Evolutionary Biogeographical Association (SEBA), France, is a recently established (28th February 2006) international scientific body, whose objectives and constitution/statutes fulfil the requirements for Scientific Member of the IUBS.

           

Accordingly, the Committee recommends to the 29th General Assembly that the Systematics and Evolutionary Biogeographical Association (SEBA), France, be admitted as Scientific Member of the IUBS.

 

  1. FUNBOTANICA, Ecuadorian Foundation for the Development of the Biological Sciences, Ecuador, represents the Biological Science Professionals of Ecuador since 1991 and is maintaining all the Herbaria and Botanical Gardens in Ecuador.

 

The Committee recommends to the 29th General Assembly that the FUNBOTANICA, Ecuador, be admitted as Associate Member of the IUBS.

 

In addition to the above recommendations, the Admissions Committee would also like to suggest to the GA and the Executive Committee of the IUBS to consider the following:

 

For future admissions as Scientific and Associate Member of the IUBS, the applicant body should have been active for at least three years prior to its application for membership to the IUBS. This would permit an objective assessment of the applicant body/organization in relation to Objectives and activities of the IUBS.

 

The Committee thanks the Executive Committee of the IUBS for giving it this opportunity.

 

The IUBS 29th General Assembly also approved the amendment of the Constitution of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), and ratification of the election of 10 new commissioners, as required by the ICZN Constitution, as follows: 

 

 

DECLARATION 44
Amendment of Article 74.7.3
DECLARATION:

 

•         The wording of Article 74.7.3 is hereby amended to read 'contain an express statement of deliberate designation (merely citing a specimen as "lectotype" is insufficient)'.

•         An Example is added directly below Article 74.7.3 to read 'Example. A statement such as "lectotype hereby designated", "lectotype by present designation", "I choose specimen X as lectotype" would fulfil this requirement, but "lectotype: specimen X" would not'.

•         The following Recommendation is added to read 'Recommendation 74G. Not merely for curatorial purposes. The designation of lectotypes should be done as part of a revisionary or other taxonomic work to enhance the stability of nomenclature, and not for mere curatorial convenience'.

•         These amendments are backdated and apply to all works published after 31 December 1999.

•         History of the proposal

•         A proposal to delete Article 74.7.3 of the Code was made (see BZN 58(2): 133; Zoosystematica Rossica, 10(1): 1-7) on the grounds that it was unnecessary and required repetitious statements to be made when several lectotypes were being designated in a revisionary work. The proposal was widely supported by zoologists (see BZN 58(2): 133-140). A draft proposal to amend Article 74.7.3 was published in BZN: 59(4): 278-279. On 8 April 2002, Commissioners were asked to vote on whether they considered the proposed amendments to constitute a minor change and asked to comment on the wording of the draft proposal. Over two-thirds of the Commissioners voted in agreement that it was a minor change to the Code and accepted the proposal's wording (20 FOR, 3 AGAINST and 5 did not vote; see BZN: 59(4): 279-280). Under Articles 78.3 and 80.1 of the Code, a Declaration (provisional amendment to the Code) was drafted by the Executive Secretary and circulated to the Commission for its approval on 22 July 2003. The Declaration was approved and under Article 80.1 shall remain in force until ratified or rejected by the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS), the international body from which the Commission derives its functions and powers (Article 77 of the Code).

 

 

As well as the ratification of 10 ICZN newly elected Commissioners

 

The following 10 ICZN Commissioners were elected in accordance with the Constitution and Bylaws of ICZN on 18 August 2006.

The newly elected Commissioners, with their countries of residence and areas of expertise are:

Nina Bogutskaya, Russia, Ichthyology
Daphne Fautin, U.S.A., Coelenterata, Cnidaria
Mark Grygier, Japan, Crustacea and Myzostomida
Maurice Kottelat, Switzerland, Ichthyology
Frank Krell, U.K., Insecta: Coleoptera
Sven Kullander, Sweden, Ichthyology
Susan Lim, Malaysia, Platyhelminthes: Monogenea
Thomas Pape, Denmark, Insecta: Diptera
Richard Pyle, U.S.A. (Hawaii), Ichthyology
Zhi-Qiang Zhang, New Zealand, Acari

 

Amendment and ratification presented by

Dr. Andrew Polaszek

Executive Secretary, ICZN,

On 13 May 2007