Naming New Species Goes Online:
Zoologists have agreed to join the 21st century…next year. That's when names for new species published online will be officially recognized. Until then that new monkey in Africa, for example, and any other newly discovered critter still needs to be named in print first.
The new rule, which the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) set last week in a vote of 23 in favor and 3 against (with one abstention), comes a year after the International Botanical Congress agreed to change its policy and allow new species of plants to be named online.
Starting next year all new animals will also have to be registered with ZooBank.org, the official registry for the ICZN.
