HISTORY AND NOMENCLATURE OF AVIAN FAMILY-GROUP NAMES

The Standing Committee on Ornithological Nomenclature chaired by Walte r Bock undertook an analysis of the nomenclatural history of avian fam ily-group names.The primary results are (1) the establishment of a com plete list of avian family-group names with authors, dates, and citati ons to the original papers, (2) discussion of problem family-group nam es, (3) an index to avian family-group names, (4) a historical analysi s of avian family-group nomenclature, and (5) a historical analysis of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature as it related to family-group nomenclature. The second result is the basis for an a pplication to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature to adopt formally the presented list of avian family-group names as th e official baseline dated 1 January 1994 for all future nomenclatural decisions relating to avian family-group names. Third is the use of th is historical survey of avian family-group names as a test case to dem onstrate the suitability of regulations in the Code pertaining to fami ly-group names in the absence, as well as in the availability, of full historical knowledge of family-group names in a larger taxon. It is s hown that these regulations are not workable without a detailed knowle dge of nomenclatural history, and because such histories are not avail able for most groups of animals, current regulations in the Code perta ining to family-group names are not workable. Lastly, recommendations are offered for modifications in the rules of zoological nomenclature to achieve greater continuity, stability, and universality of family-g roup names without the need for complete historical investigations of these names in each group of animals. These suggestions include establ ishment of stare decisis clauses and of base-line lists of family-grou p for family-group names for each group of animals.