Ichnotaxonomy: Finding Patterns in a Welter of Information - Trace Fossils as Indicators of Sedimentary Environments - page 59

one complex burrow structure that the authors somewhat reluctantly gave the
trace a single name.
7. SYSTEMATIC CLASSIFICATION
Trace fossils can also be classified with formal Linnaean names. Classification
(the grouping of items into categories) and nomenclature (the naming of items)
are not the same processes, but the two are merged in the system of binominal
nomenclature.
Binominal (alternatively, binomial ) names consist of two parts, one of
which represents a general category, and the other a more particular category
within it. Any object can be classified binominally, even minerals or clouds
(e.g., altocumulus castellanus, altocumulus lenticularis ). The method is highly
mnemonic and serves well for information retrieval. Trace fossils do not need
DNA in order to be classified binominally.
7.1 International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
Ichnotaxonomy in the strict sense is stabilized by the various codes of nomencla-
ture that govern animals, plants (including algae and fungi), and bacteria. Only
the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) recognizes biogenic
structures (the work of animals) as worthy of formal Linnaean names, and only
trace fossils are so recognized, not modern structures. The International Code of
Botanical Nomenclature and the International Code of Bacterial Nomenclature
do not recognize trace fossils made by plants or bacteria. This means that the
names of trace fossils interpreted by researchers as the work of plants or bacteria
are not automatically protected under these codes; however, researchers who are
interested in these objects are free to name these objects as if they were protected,
and this seems the only practical way to proceed, especially because it is not
always clear what kind of organism made a trace fossil. This is particularly so
in the case of microborings, whose makers include algae and fungi.
The ICZN governs the formal names of trace fossils: Very well then, what
does it say? Unfortunately, although the first few editions of the Code were writ-
ten in fairly plain language, the fourth and fifth were not (ICZN, 1985, 1999).
Even a taxonomist is obliged to read interpretive works such as those of
Schenck et al. (1948) and Blackwelder (1967) to understand not only what
the Code says in words but also the historical intent behind its rules. And not
one of these interpretive texts includes a complete and accurate summary of
the rules concerning trace fossils. In particular, the otherwise excellent textbook
Describing Species ( Winston, 1999 ) suffers from having been written just
before the fifth edition of the Code took effect in 2000, with several changes
in the rules concerning ichnotaxa. Instead, ichnologists must rely on works such
as those by Bromley and F¨rsich (1980) , Rindsberg (1990) , Pickerill (1994) ,