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Issue: Vol. 32 No. 1: 31 July 2023
Type: Correspondence
Published: 2023-07-31
DOI: 10.11646/bionomina.32.1.5
Page range: 52-54
Abstract views: 465
PDF downloaded: 4

Systematic sexism: gender-neutral rule changes are needed

BIOPOLIS-CIBIO-InBIO; Universidade do Porto; Campus agrário Vairão; 4485-661 Portugal
Department of Zoology; Weber State University; Ogden; UT; USA
Department of Education; Culture and Society; University of Utah; Salt Lake City; UT; USA
BIOPOLIS-CIBIO-InBIO; Universidade do Porto; Campus agrário Vairão; 4485-661 Portugal
biodiversity Linnean system International Code of Zoological Nomenclature International Code of Nomenclature for algae; fungi and plants gendered languages gender inequality Latin gender bias nomenclatural rule change first reviser principle

Abstract

The development of an inventory of earth’s biodiversity—identifying and naming all living species—is a central tenet of biological science. For over 250 years, the Linnean system has been the predominant naming approach, with new species designated by a unique Latinized binomina following rules laid out by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Anonymous 1999; “the Code” below) for animal taxa, while the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants (Turland et al. 2018) is the set of rules dealing with formal botanical names.

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