The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the name Ticinella primula Luterbacher, 1963, which is in prevailing use for a species of Early Cretaceous (Albian) planktonic foraminifera of the superfamily rotaliporoidea Sigal, 1958 (nom. correct. ex rotaliporacea). Since the middle 1960s this specific name has been extensively used as a zonal marker of the standard planktonic foraminiferal biochronology, in academic micropalaeontology and economic palaeontology, as well as various disciplines in Cretaceous palaeoenvironmental study. It is threatened by its senior subjective synonym Hedbergella yezoana Takayanagi & Iwamoto, 1962. For nomenclatural stability, the junior name primula should be conserved by suppressing the senior name yezoana.

The purpose of this application, under Articles 65.2.1 and 65.2.2 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the widely used generic name Neobisium Chamberlin, 1930 and of the family-group names neobisiinae Chamberlin, 1930, neobisiidae Chamberlin, 1930 and neobisioidea Chamberlin, 1930. These names are threatened by an overlooked fixation (by monotypy) of Chelifer trombidioides Latreille, 1804 as the type species of Obisium Leach, 1814 (a junior homonym of Obisium Illiger in Kugelann and Illiger, 1798) and hence of its replacement, Neobisium. Chelifer trombidioides is a senior objective synonym of Obisium orthodactylum Leach, 1817, the type species of Chthonius C.L. Koch, 1843 by subsequent designation of Simon (1879), which makes Neobisium a junior objective synonym of Chthonius. Consequently, family-group names based on Neobisium (currently in use up to superfamilial level) would become junior objective synonyms of those based on Chthonius. In order to maintain current usage of the names concerned, it is proposed that Obisium muscorum Leach, 1817 be designated as the type species of Obisium Leach, 1814.

The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the specific name Habroleptoides confusa Sartori & Jacob, 1986 for a well-known European mayfly (family leptophlebiidae). A recent study has shown that the name is threatened by the senior subjective synonym Habroleptoides carpatica Bogoescu & Crăsnaru, 1930, which has been seldom used since its first publication, while the junior synonym is very widely used. Therefore, precedence of the name Habroleptoides confusa Sartori & Jacob, 1986 is requested.

The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to conserve the usage of the genus Kalophrynus Tschudi, 1838, as defined by its type species Kalophrynus pleurostigma Tschudi, 1838, for the sticky frogs of Sumatra, Indonesia. The current paradigm of the genus Kalophrynus is threatened by the poor condition of the holotype of K. pleurostigma. In order to properly root the genus to a type specimen, the assignment of a neotype for the species is proposed, which will safeguard the prevailing usage of the genus Kalophrynus.

The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.5 of the Code, is to conserve the specific name Coluber irregularis Leach in Bowdich, 1819 (currently Philothamnus irregularis) for the African northern green bush snake. The name was placed on the Official List by a ruling in Opinion 328. This name is a junior primary homonym of Coluber irregularis Bechstein, 1802 (currently Boiga irregularis), used for the brown tree snake, known from Indonesia, Australia, Papua New Guinea and Melanesia, and infamous for its invasive colonization of Guam. Both names are in use and are not considered congeneric. It is proposed that the name Coluber irregularis Leach in Bowdich, 1819 be conserved by ruling that it is not invalid by reason of being a junior primary homonym. In order to conserve the name Coluber irregularis Leach in Bowdich, 1819, Opinion 328 suppressed the senior synonym Coluber caesius Cloquet, 1818. In that action, the name Coluber azureus Bonnaterre, 1790 (a senior objective synonym of Coluber caesius Cloquet, 1818) was overlooked. In this paper, Coluber azureus Bonnaterre, 1790 is declared a nomen oblitum under Article 23.9.2 of the Code.

The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to replace the incomplete and improperly described holotype of the antpitta Grallaria fenwickorum Barrera et al., 2010 with a neotype that constitutes a full, diagnosable, name-bearing type. Because the holotype of G. fenwickorum was described poorly, was not deposited appropriately in a scientific collection and does not possess the characters that diagnose the taxon, and because the taxonomy of Grallaria ranks among the most fluid of all avian genera, it is crucial that a full, information-rich, recognizable type be available to the scientific community to represent this new taxon. I consider G. fenwickorum to be a nomen dubium and urge declaration of a neotype as a basis for a more stable foundation in the complex taxonomy of this genus.

The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to set aside the existing, non-diagnostic holotype of Basilosaurus kochii Reichenbach, 1847 (currently Zygorhiza kochii) and designate a neotype. The designation of a neotype is necessary to conserve the prevailing usage of the specific name and resolve questions of synonymy between Zygorhiza kochii and the closely related and geographically proximal species Dorudon serratus (Gibbes, 1845; True, 1908) and Chrysocetus healyorum.

The Commission has removed homonymy between the family-group name amphiporidae Rukhin, 1938 (Porifera, Stromatoporoidea, Amphiporida) and amphiporidae McIntosh, 1874 (Nemertea, Hoplonemertea) by emending the spelling of the stem of Amphipora Schultz, 1883 to Amphipora- to give amphiporaidae, while leaving the nemertean family-group name (based on Amphiporus Ehrenberg, 1831) unchanged.

The Commission has conserved the specific name Pleurotoma scabriuscula Brugnone, 1862 (originally published as Pleurotoma scabriusculum; currently Mangelia scabriuscula, mangeliidae) by ruling that it is not invalid by reason of being a junior primary homonym of Pleurotoma scabriuscula Edwards, 1861 (currently Crassispira scabriuscula, pseudomelatomidae).

The Commission has conserved the name Papilio hesperus Westwood, 1843 by suppression of Papilio hesperus Fabricius, 1793. Coincidentally this also conserves the name Harma chalcis C. & R. Felder, 1860, which is in widespread use in much of Africa in the combination Euryphura chalcis.

The Commission has preserved stability in the taxonomy of stegosaurian dinosaurs by replacing Stegosaurus armatus Marsh, 1877, the unidentifiable type species of the ornithischian dinosaur genus Stegosaurus Marsh, 1877, with the very well represented nominal species Stegosaurus stenops Marsh, 1887, also from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, U.S.A.

Alfred Russel Wallace made fundamental contributions to biogeography and the establishment of evolutionary thinking. He was also a working collector who spent a total of twelve years traveling in Amazonia and southeast Asia, his immense collections yielding hundreds of new species. Wallace was, accordingly, intimately familiar with the diversity of species and varieties, and was attuned to fine shades of morphological difference in a geographical context. In identifying, preparing, labelling and cataloguing his myriad specimens Wallace often confronted nomenclatural issues, foremost among them keeping track of taxonomic synonyms. In the absence of internationally recognized codes of taxonomic nomenclature, synonyms proliferated in the 19th century. In Wallace's ‘Species Notebook,’ the most important of his field notebooks kept between 1855 and 1859 during his travels in southeast Asia, Wallace devoted several pages to addressing synonymy and related issues. I discuss Wallace's far-ranging proposals, which range from ways to stop the proliferation of synonyms to establishing central reference works to obviate the need for naturalists to redundantly review synonyms, and from cooperative natural history libraries to international committees to oversee designated publications for new descriptions. I also discuss Wallace's struggle to design an efficient catalogue layout for his collections, and how he sought to build information on geographical distribution into his cabinet and catalogue format. I consider, finally, Wallace's engagement with the principle of priority in the Species Notebook and other writings. While not all of Wallace's proposals proved practicable, several are in essence realized today; as seen through the lens of the Species Notebook, Wallace was far ahead of his time in regard to his creative solutions to the nomenclatural frustrations of his day.