About this project

Index Animalium

Sherborn's Index Animalium is a compendium of zoological taxonomic species nomenclature from 1758 to 1850. For each species described in this period it clearly lists the genus name, author, publication, pages, and date. The data elements are laid out on the page in an extremely regular columnar format. The work is approximately 9,000 pages and includes introductions, a full bibliography of the works cited in the main body, and other apparatus. Smithsonian Institution Libraries will produce a digital edition of the entire text and a web-accessible database of all the species names listed.

The scientific names of animals are indexed in three different sources, which complement each other. Sherborn's Index Animalium covers all the names from the start (1758) to 1850; the Zoological Record, an annual index, started in 1864 and continues to present. The third source is Neave's Nomenclator Zoologicus, which provide an index of genus-group names. Other community efforts are underway to provide digital access to the names in the Zoological Record and Neave. Hence, Sherborn remains the only index that will not have been converted.

Sherborn has become the accepted authority for all earlier names in Zoology. His work was endorsed and supported by British Association for the Advancement of Sciences and the British Museum (Natural History). A committee of eminent scientists reviewed Sherborn's efforts. Finally, his Index Animalium has stood the test of time as generations of zoologists have used it and found it highly accurate and comprehensive.

Sherborn, C. D. (1902) Index animalium sive index nominum quae ab A. D. MDCCLVIII generibus et speciebus animalium imposita sunt. Sectio prima. A Kalendis Ianuariis, MDCCLVIII usque ad finem Decembris, MDCCC. Typographico Academico, Cantabrigiae. Lix + 1,195 pp.

Sherborn, C. D. (1922-32). Index animalium sive index nominum quae ab A. D. MDCCLVIII generibus et speciebus animalium imposita sunt. Sectio secunda. A Kalendis Ianuariis, MDCCCI usque ad finem Decembris, MDCCCL. Longsmans, Green & Co. & British Museum (Natural History), London. cxxxi + 7,056 pp.