taxonomicstyle

Taxonomicstyle is a term used to describe the conventional writing style and formatting standards applied in taxonomic literature to present information about biological taxa. It represents the integrated set of guidelines that taxonomists use to describe, classify, and name organisms in a way that is clear, reproducible, and compatible with scholarly and data-curation practices. While not an official code, taxonomicstyle is shaped by the rules of nomenclature, as well as by journal requirements and database conventions.

Key features of taxonomicstyle include proper formatting of scientific names, including italicizing genus and species and capitalizing higher-rank names as appropriate. The author and date are appended after the name, with parentheses used when a species has been moved to a different genus from its original description. Descriptions typically include information on type material (holotypes and paratypes) and their repositories, diagnostic characters, measurements, and comparisons with related taxa. Etymology, distribution, habitat, and notes on synonyms or taxonomic revisions are commonly provided. Citations follow established conventions, and higher taxonomy is presented consistently to aid navigation and indexing.

Taxonomicstyle also aligns with the relevant nomenclatural codes—the ICZN for animals and the ICN for algae, fungi, and plants—alongside standard data practices for databases and publications. It supports accurate indexing in catalogs and repositories such as ITIS and Catalogue of Life, and it adapts to digital publishing, online type repositories, and persistent identifiers.

In practice, taxonomicstyle aims to balance precision, readability, and stability, enabling researchers to track taxonomic changes over time and to reuse descriptions across studies.