‘typeless species’: the opinion of the Zoological Code

Since the publication in 2015 of a new species of fly based exclusively on a photograph taken during a field trip, the taxonomists community is arguing on the issue of new species-group taxa without an extant name-bearing type.

Regarding this problematic, the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) published a Declaration in the March issue of The Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature. It reminded that establishing new species-group taxa without preserved name-bearing type material is permissible under the Code, but is discouraged unless justified by special circumstances, such as when capture or preservation of specimens is not feasible for technical reasons or for conservation concerns, or when specimens must be destroyed to reliably diagnose a new species.

The ICZN stated then that the establishment of new species without preserved specimen should include:

• Specific reasons for designation of an unpreserved specimen as the name-bearing type
• Assertion of due diligence (efforts to capture and preserve a physical specimen of the new taxon and/or locate an existing preserved specimen in natural history collections should be recounted)
• Consultation with specialists before the designation of an unpreserved specimen as a name-bearing type
• Comprehensive iconography and measurements (e.g., multiple original high-resolution images, DNA sequences, etc.)