LETTERS
CREDIT: GALEN ROWELL/CORBIS
More than 20,000 species are illustrated in
the 9000 odd plates of line drawings. FRPS
is being entered into a database and will be
made accessible through the Internet by the
C HINA IS HOME TO MORE THAN 31,000 Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of
species of vascular plants, more than Sciences, Beijing.
any country except Brazil and Colombia.
Although FRPS provides an important
More than half of Chinese
step forward for the knowlvascular plant species
edge of Chinese plants, it is
are found nowhere else,
based on a relatively short
including many, such as
period of study by the
Ginkgo and Metasequoia,
nation’s botanists. Modern
which were once widetaxonomic research by
spread around the NorthChinese botanists was not
ern Hemisphere, but now
begun until 1916 (1), with
sur vive only in China.
earlier studies carried out
Numerous noted botanical
mainly by European and
explorers and collectors
American scientists. As a
from Europe, America,
result, much of the imporand China contributed
tant reference material is
valuable material to the
held by European and
herbaria of leading botaniAmerican institutions and
cal institutions and greatly
was not always easily
enriched the gardens of
accessible to Chinese
the world through their
botanists, particularly
discoveries. The compleduring the “Cultural Retion by Chinese botanists
volution.” The material that
of the Flora Republicae
Chinese botanists have
Popularis Sinicae (FRPS),
had available for study is
which outlines the charmainly based on that
acteristics of the country’s
assembled within China,
huge flora, is an event of
most of it since 1949.
great significance; no flora
Consequently, FRPS has
of comparable size has ever
certain deficiencies.
been completed.
Because of these probThis publication of this
lems, an inter national
work was formally begun Rhododendrons in the Kama collaborative project, the
in 1958, but it was initi- Valley, or Valley of the Flowers, Flora of China project,
ated in the 1930s by Hu east of Mount Everest in Tibet was organized to produce
Xiansu (better known as Autonomous Region, China.
a collaborative, revised
H. H. Hu) (1). Work on
English edition of FRPS.
the flora virtually ceased
This project involves
during the chaotic “Proletarian Cultural many Chinese and non-Chinese taxonoRevolution” (1966–76). After 1978, mists from throughout the world and is
Chinese botanists resumed and greatly supported by various funding agencies in
accelerated their effor ts, with major China and the United States, including the
financial support from the National Natural National Natural Science Foundation of
Science Foundation of China, the Chinese China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Academy of Sciences, and the Ministry of and the U.S. National Science Foundation,
Science and Technology. Finally, after 45 as well as the C.V. Starr, Kadoorie, and
years of extraordinary effort by 312 Chinese Stanley Smith foundations. Ten volumes
botanists representing four generations, of text and ten volumes of accompanying
the Flora has been completed. It consists of illustrations have been published to date
126 books, which constitute 80 volumes; it (2). The project will ultimately result in
includes 31,141 species, 3407 genera, and the publication of 25 volumes of text and
300 families of vascular plants. The final part 25 volumes of illustrations and is expected
was published in October 2004. The Flora to be completed by 2010.
includes all native and naturalized plant
By completing FRPS, Chinese botanists
species, as well as China’s economically have made a great contribution to the underimportant cultivated plants, such as crops, standing of the world’s plants and have laid a
and plants that are grown in plantations. more secure foundation for their conservawww.sciencemag.org
SCIENCE
VOL 309
Published by AAAS
tion and sustainable use. Given the rapid
development of China’s economy and the
consequent pressures on natural resources,
this information is of vital importance. It is
also hoped that the Flora may also present a
useful model for botanists from other nations
that are in the process of developing knowledge about their plant resources and encountering pressures similar to those felt in China.
QIN-ER YANG,1 GUANGHUA ZHU,2 DEYUAN HONG,1
ZHENGYI WU,3 PETER H. RAVEN2
1Laboratory of Systematic & Evolutionary Botany,
Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Beijing 100093, China. 2Missouri Botanical Garden,
St. Louis, MO 63166, USA. 3Kunming Institute of
Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming
650204, China.
References and Notes
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on April 25, 2009
World’s Largest
Flora Completed
1. W. J. Haas, Arnoldia 48, 9 (1988).
2. The volumes are available online at http://flora.huh.
harvard.edu/china/ and www.mobot.org/MOBOT/
Research/asiaprojects.shtml.
3. We thank Xingguo Han, director of the Institute of
Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for his helpful
discussion.
What Constitutes a
Proper Description?
IN THEIR REPORT “THE HIGHLAND MANGABEY
Lophocebus kipunji: a new species of
African monkey” (20 May, p. 1161), T.
Jones et al. attempt to describe a distinctive,
new species of mangabey from Tanzania.
The description of the new mangabey is
based on two photographs, one of an adult
male designated as the holotype, and one of
unknown sex designated as a paratype. No
voucher material was obtained, and the
authors state, “The number of individuals
in each of the two populations of this
species is undoubtedly very small; no live
individual should be collected at this time
to serve as the holotype.” Contrary to the
statements in the published description, the
photographs do not function as name-bearing
types (1). Thus, Lophocebus kipunji Ehart,
Butynski, Jones, and Davenport is not an
available name and has no formal standing
in zoology.
The photographs are not valid substitutes for a type specimen. The function of
a type specimen in nomenclature is to
provide an objective basis for the application of a species-group name. Jones and
colleagues are encouraged to acquire a
specimen, or part(s) thereof, and prepare
a new description of this, as yet, undescribed species.
ROBERT M. TIMM,1 ROB ROY RAMEY II,2 AND THE
NOMENCLATURE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN
SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS
30 SEPTEMBER 2005
2163
LETTERS
of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
and Biodiversity Research Center, University of
Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA. 2Department of
Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature and Science,
2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205, USA.
Reference
1. International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN), International Code of
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, London, ed. 4, 1999).
“Article 16.4. Species–group names: fixation of namebearing types to be explicit. Every new specific and
subspecific name published after 1999,… must be
accompanied in the original publication[:] 16.4.1. by
the explicit fixation of a holotype, or syntypes for the
nominal taxon…, and, 16.4.2 where the holotypes or
syntypes are extant specimens, by a statement of
intent that they will be (or are) deposited in a collection and a statement indicating the name and location
of that collection. (see Recommendation 16C).”
THE DISCOVERY OF A NEW SPECIES OF MONKEY
is very important and heartening to preservationists everywhere (“The highland
mangabey Lophocebus kipunji: a new
species of African monkey,” T. Jones et al.,
Reports, 20 May, p. 1161). Unfortunately, as
a taxonomic description, the Report leaves
much to be desired and seems destined to
sow confusion in future synonymies.
There are no hard and fast rules for the
protocol of a species description, but certain
features should be adhered to. It is usual to
start with a brief taxonomic hierarchy, placing
2164
the new taxon in the set of animals; thus,
Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species name
(i.e., the proposed Linnaean binomial), “Sp.
Nov.,” “New Sp.,” or some designation
clearly marking the name as new.
“Ehardt et al.” give the citation for the
new species as “Ehardt, Butynski, Jones
and Davenport,” that is, four of the seven
authors of the paper. The purpose of the
citation is to identify the paper, not to assign
credit, and all of the authors should be cited.
This paper has not properly designated a
type specimen. There is no provision under
the International Code of Zoological
Nomenclature (1) for designating a photograph as a type. The authors were understandably reluctant to collect a specimen of
this rare species, but the proper course of
action would have been to announce the discovery of the new species, publishing all of
the excellent descriptive material and their
quite convincing case for calling it new,
without, however, naming it.
They have published a nomen nudum, a
name that, because it is not backed by a type
specimen, has no standing under the Code
and that other taxonomic workers are free to
ignore. Moreover, they rendered their name
(kipunji) unavailable under the rules, meaning that not only is their entirely appropriate
30 SEPTEMBER 2005
VOL 309
SCIENCE
Published by AAAS
name, Lophocebus kipunji, not established,
but that nobody can ever establish it.
STUART O. LANDRY
Professor Emeritus of Biology, State University of
New York, Binghamton, NY 13902–6000, USA.
Reference
1. International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN), International Code of
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, London, ed. 4, 1999).
Response
LANDRY AND TIMM ET AL. SHOW A LAUDABLE
concern about descriptions of new animal
species that either are not, or appear not to be,
compliant with the currently applicable
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1). The aims of the Code, and of
the Commission responsible for its periodic
revision and implementation (ICZN), have
always been to minimize chaos in animal
nomenclature, hence ICZN’s Mission
Statement: “achieving stability and sense in
the scientific naming of animals.”
The destabilizing effect of publishing
non–Code-compliant descriptions of new
animal taxa is as old as the Code itself.
Perhaps the most recent example is the
invalid description of the fossil duck
Vegavis iaai (2). Because no description for
the generic name was provided, the binominal proposed for an extremely important
www.sciencemag.org
Downloaded from www.sciencemag.org on April 25, 2009
1Department
that many newly described taxa will be
threatened (L. kipunji will be designated as
“critically endangered” in the IUCN Red
List). Dead animal specimens should not
be understood to be essential to the process
of establishing new taxa. In such cases,
supplementation with evidence such as
sonograms and oscillograms of speciesspecif ic vocalizations, and molecular
information (now readily derived from
noninvasive samples, e.g., hair, urine, and
feces) may contribute to validation. It
should also be more widely recognized that
establishing the taxonomic rank of new
taxa and ensuring the availability of
names are critical to the conservation listings (regional, national, and international)
that assist in prioritizing, initiating, and
supporting conservation efforts. Even the
perception of the necessity for physical
specimens under the Code could hamper
and delay the very processes that determine
whether newly discovered taxa survive.
The well-intentioned reactions of Landry
and Timm et al. show that the current Code is
open to different interpretations on the subject
of type specimens (compare Articles 16.4.2
and 73.1.4 at www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp).
The permissiveness of the Code in allowing
illustrations of type specimens to make new
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30 SEPTEMBER 2005
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CREDIT: T. R. B. DAVENPORT
LETTERS
fossil is invalid, or
ened animals or those for
“unavailable” in the
whom the collection of
Code’s terminology.
specimens is otherwise
By contrast, Jones
impractical, impossible,
et al. undertook a series
or unethical. This situaof consultations with
tion has been dealt with
the ICZN Secretariat
in detail by Wakehamand with several eminent
Dawson et al. (3).
taxonomists to ensure
The description of L.
that their description of
kipunji is also Code-comthe highland mangabey
pliant in all other respects,
Lophocebus kipunji
and the objections raised
was Code-compliant.
by Landry are unsupAlthough under Article
ported. Although often the
16.4.2, it is stated that
case, it is not required, nor
authors of new taxa must
always appropriate, that
publish a statement of This photo, of an adult male high- authorship of a publication
intent that extant types land mangabey Lophocebus kipunji, describing a new taxon and
will be deposited in a was designated by Jones et al. as the its discovery be the same
collection, Article 73.1.4 holotype.
as the authorship of the
provides an opportunity
name assigned under the
for the description of new taxa without the Code. For L. kipunji, the authorship of the
necessity of providing dead type specimens: name (Ehardt, Butynski, Jones, and
“Designation of an illustration of a single Davenport) specifically designates the authorspecimen as a holotype is to be treated as ity assigning the name of the new species.
designation of the specimen illustrated; the
The allowance under the Code for desigfact that the specimen no longer exists or nation of surviving specimens as holotypes
cannot be traced does not of itself invalidate needs to be more widely recognized, given
the designation.” The Article, as formulated, contemporary concerns for the conservathereby permits the description of threat- tion of threatened species. There is no doubt
LETTERS
December 27, 2005–
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of cumulative scientific impact, another
measure, call it c, would also be interesting: the total number of papers from that
researcher cited more than once by other
research groups in the most recent calendar year. This alternative parameter c
would be a much better measure of current
research impact.
ANDREW POLASZEK,1 PETER GRUBB,2
COLIN GROVES,3 CAROLYN L. EHARDT,4
THOMAS M. BUTYNSKI5
1Executive Secretary, International Commission on
Zoological Nomenclature, c/o Natural History
Museum, London SW7 5BD UK. 235 Downhills Park
Road, London N17 6PE, UK. 3School of Archaeology
and Anthropology, Building 14, Australian National
University, Canberra 0200, Australia. 4Department
of Anthropology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
30602–1619, USA. 5Conservation International,
Eastern Africa Regional Program, Post Office Box
68200, City Square 00200, Nairobi, Kenya.
References
News Focus: “A ‘Robin Hood’ declares war on lucrative U.S. patents” by E. Kintisch (26 Aug., p. 1319).
The story incorrectly identified the name and scope
of the organization Patients not Patents. The group
focuses on drug patents.
1. International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN), International Code of
Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, London, ed. 4, 1999),
pp. 1–306.
2. J.A. Clarke, C. P.Tambussi, J. I. Noriega, G. M. Erickson, R.
A. Ketcham, Nature 433, 305 (2005).
3. A. Wakeham-Dawson, S. Morris, P. Tubbs, M. L.
Dalebout, C. S. Baker, Bull. Zool. Nomenclat. 59 (no. 4),
282 (2002).
Quantifying
Publication Impact
THE RANDOM SAMPLES ITEM “IMPACT FACtor” (19 Aug., p. 1181) noted the proposal
by Jorge Hirsch of the University of
California, San Diego (1) that the total scientific output of a researcher can be judged
by h, the largest number such that the
researcher has at least h papers with h citations. Although this is indeed an indication
Letters to the Editor
Letters (~300 words) discuss material published
in Science in the previous 6 months or issues of
general interest. They can be submitted
through the Web (www.submit2science.org) or
by regular mail (1200 New York Ave., NW,
Washington, DC 20005, USA). Letters are not
acknowledged upon receipt, nor are authors
generally consulted before publication.
Whether published in full or in part, letters are
subject to editing for clarity and space.
DOUGLASS F. TABER
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
E-mail: taberdf@udel.edu
Reference
1. J. E. Hirsch, preprint available at www.arxiv.org/abs/
physics/0508025.
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
Special Section on the Great Sumatra-Andaman
Earthquake:Viewpoint: “A flying start, then a slow
slip” by R. Bilham (20 May, p. 1126). The mention of
the Richter scale in the second sentence of the second paragraph on page 1126 was incorrect.All magnitudes cited should be moment magnitude Mw, a
scale that is defined by total energy release. The
second sentence of the first paragraph on page
1126 incorrectly gave the energy equivalents of the
earthquake. A magnitude of Mw = 9.15 corresponds
to 3.35 × 1018 J, or 0.8 gigatons of TNT.This is equivalent to 11 days of total U.S. energy consumption,
assuming a 2005 rate of 101 × 1015 British thermal
units (≈10 20 J) (see www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/
index.html). However, although estimates of Mw
range up to 9.3, the most reliable seismic energy
release estimate is 1.1 × 1018 J, corresponding to
≈0.25 gigatons of TNT.
Reports: “Supramolecular assembly of amelogenin
nanospheres into birefringent microribbons” by C.
Du et al. (4 Mar., p. 1450). In this Report on amelogenin nanosphere assemblies and their tendency to
form microribbon structures, the authors included a
diffraction pattern that was attributed to these
microribbons (Fig. 1F and Table S2). Elia Beniash
(Forsyth Institute, Boston) subsequently informed
the authors that the diffraction pattern and the dspacings reported are analogous to those of cellulose fibers, and analysis of one of the microribbons
by Beniash confirmed the presence of cellulose.The
authors therefore conclude that the diffraction
reported in Fig. 1F belongs to a cellulose contaminant fiber and not to an amelogenin microribbon.
The authors have carried out new crystallization
and characterization experiments of amelogenin
birefringent microribbons that were free of contamination. The dimensions of the microribbons
appear to be smaller than those indicated in the
Report, with a wider distribution in length and
width. The shape is not regular, although a ribbonlike morphology (similar to that of cellulose) is
always preserved. These amelogenin microribbons,
although birefringent, show either no or a very
weak x-ray diffraction pattern. This suggests the
presence of a preferential orientation in the
nanosphere assembly, without any regular periodicity. The authors apologize for these errors and
any inconvenience they may have caused.
Email: AAASinfo@betchartexpeditions.com
30 SEPTEMBER 2005
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We invite you to travel with
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names available, despite the subsequent loss
or return to the wild of those types, is open to
potential abuse. An obvious modest step forward would be to introduce a registration system for animal names. This would (i) alert
zoologists to the appearance of newly
described taxa and (ii) ensure that the names
are Code-compliant and available.
Our comments support the preparation of
a new edition of the Code—one that will
prevent potential misinterpretations and perhaps encompass an open-access registration
system. Such an effort, embracing the principle of bioinformatics, should unite all biologists involved in biodiversity conservation,
systematics, evolutionary ecology, molecular biology, and related disciplines.