Principle of priority

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Sanzinia madagascariensis was moved to the genus Boa. To avoid having the same name as another snake, it was renamed Boa manditra. On further investigation, it was established that the move had been incorrect, so the original name was reinstated as the valid name. Madagascar Tree Boa (Sanzinia madagascariensis) 1.jpg
Sanzinia madagascariensis was moved to the genus Boa. To avoid having the same name as another snake, it was renamed Boa manditra. On further investigation, it was established that the move had been incorrect, so the original name was reinstated as the valid name.
The North American wildflower genus Agalinis was published in 1837, but for a long time, it was included in the ambiguously-named genus Gerardia. In 1961, the problem with the name Gerardia was resolved, and Agalinis came into common use. However, three relatively unknown names for the genus had been published earlier: Virgularia Ruiz & Pav. in 1794, Chytra C.F.Gaertn. in 1807, and Tomanthera Raf. in 1837, of which Virgularia would have priority. These three names have since been rejected in favour of Agalinis. Agalinis purpurea - Purple False Foxglove.jpg
The North American wildflower genus Agalinis was published in 1837, but for a long time, it was included in the ambiguously-named genus Gerardia. In 1961, the problem with the name Gerardia was resolved, and Agalinis came into common use. However, three relatively unknown names for the genus had been published earlier: Virgularia Ruiz & Pav. in 1794, Chytra C.F.Gaertn. in 1807, and Tomanthera Raf. in 1837, of which Virgularia would have priority. These three names have since been rejected in favour of Agalinis.

Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two aspects to this:

Contents

  1. The first formal scientific name published for a plant or animal taxon shall be the name that is to be used, called the valid name in zoology and correct name in botany (principle of synonymy).
  2. Once a name has been used, no subsequent publication of that name for another taxon shall be valid (zoology) or validly published (botany) (principle of homonymy).

Note that nomenclature for botany and zoology is independent, and the rules of priority regarding homonyms operate within each discipline but not between them. Thus, an animal and a plant can bear the same name, which is then called a hemihomonym.

There are formal provisions for making exceptions to the principle of priority under each of the Codes. If an archaic or obscure prior name is discovered for an established taxon, the current name can be declared a nomen conservandum (botany) or conserved name (zoology), and so conserved against the prior name. Conservation may be avoided entirely in zoology as these names may fall in the formal category of nomen oblitum . Similarly, if the current name for a taxon is found to have an archaic or obscure prior homonym, the current name can be declared a nomen protectum (zoology) or the older name suppressed ( nomen rejiciendum , botany).

History

The principle of priority has not always been in place. When Carl Linnaeus laid the foundations of modern nomenclature, he offered no recognition of prior names. The botanists who followed him were just as willing to overturn Linnaeus's names. The first sign of recognition of priority came in 1813, when A. P. de Candolle laid out some principles of good nomenclatural practice. He favoured retaining prior names, but left wide scope for overturning poor prior names. [3]

In botany

During the 19th century, the principle gradually came to be accepted by almost all botanists, but debate continued to rage over the conditions under which the principle might be ignored. Botanists on one side of the debate argued that priority should be universal and without exception. This would have meant a one-off major disruption as countless names in current usage were overturned in favour of archaic prior names. In 1891, Otto Kuntze, one of the most vocal proponents of this position, did just that, publishing over 30000 new combinations in his Revisio Generum Plantarum . [3] He then followed with further such publications in 1893, 1898 and 1903. [3] His efforts, however, were so disruptive that they appear to have benefited his opponents. By the 1900s, the need for a mechanism for the conservation of names was widely accepted, and details of such a mechanism were under discussion. The current system of "modified priority" was essentially put in place at the Cambridge Congress of 1930. [3]

In zoology

The Principle of Priority is one of the guiding principles of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature , defined by Article 23. There are exceptions: another name may be given precedence by any provision of the Code or by any ruling of the Commission. It is a fundamental guiding precept that preserves the stability of biological nomenclature. It was first formulated in 1842 by a committee appointed by the British Association to consider the rules of zoological nomenclature; the committee's report was written by Hugh Edwin Strickland. [4]

Examples

Mechanics

In botany and horticulture, the principle of priority applies to names at the rank of family and below. [5] [6] When moves are made to another genus or from one species to another, the "final epithet" of the name is combined with the new genus name, with any adjustments necessary for Latin grammar, for example:

In zoology, the principle of priority applies to names between the rank of superfamily and subspecies (not to varieties, which are below the rank of subspecies). [13] Also unlike in botany, the authorship of new combinations is not tracked, and only the original authority is ever cited. Example:

See also

Related Research Articles

In biological classification, a subfamily is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zoological subfamily names with "-inae".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subgenus</span> Taxonomic rank

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus.

In biology, a tribe is a taxonomic rank above genus, but below family and subfamily. It is sometimes subdivided into subtribes. By convention, all taxonomic ranks from genus upwards are capitalized, including both tribe and subtribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Form (botany)</span> One of the secondary taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, in botanical nomenclature

In botanical nomenclature, a form is one of the "secondary" taxonomic ranks, below that of variety, which in turn is below that of species; it is an infraspecific taxon. If more than three ranks are listed in describing a taxon, the "classification" is being specified, but only three parts make up the "name" of the taxon: a genus name, a specific epithet, and an infraspecific epithet.

In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both botany and zoology. In zoology, alternate terms such as original combination or protonym are sometimes used instead. Bacteriology uses a similar term, basonym, spelled without an i.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Type genus</span> Term in biological taxonomy

In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Botanical name</span> Scientific name for a plant, alga or fungus

A botanical name is a formal scientific name conforming to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and, if it concerns a plant cultigen, the additional cultivar or Group epithets must conform to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). The code of nomenclature covers "all organisms traditionally treated as algae, fungi, or plants, whether fossil or non-fossil, including blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria), chytrids, oomycetes, slime moulds and photosynthetic protists with their taxonomically related non-photosynthetic groups ."

<i>Nomen nudum</i> Term used in nomenclature ("naked name")

In taxonomy, a nomen nudum is a designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate description. This makes it a "bare" or "naked" name, which cannot be accepted as it stands. A largely equivalent but much less frequently used term is nomen tantum. Sometimes, "nomina nuda" is erroneously considered a synonym for the term "unavailable names". However, not all unavailable names are nomina nuda.

In biological nomenclature, a syntype is any one of two or more biological types that is listed in a description of a taxon where no holotype was designated. Precise definitions of this and related terms for types have been established as part of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants.

Nomenclature codes or codes of nomenclature are the various rulebooks that govern biological taxonomic nomenclature, each in their own broad field of organisms. To an end-user who only deals with names of species, with some awareness that species are assignable to genera, families, and other taxa of higher ranks, it may not be noticeable that there is more than one code, but beyond this basic level these are rather different in the way they work.

In botany, the correct name according to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) is the one and only botanical name that is to be used for a particular taxon, when that taxon has a particular circumscription, position and rank. Determining whether a name is correct is a complex procedure. The name must be validly published, a process which is defined in no less than 16 Articles of the ICN. It must also be "legitimate", which imposes some further requirements. If there are two or more legitimate names for the same taxon, then the correct name is the one which has priority, i.e. it was published earliest, although names may be conserved if they have been very widely used. Validly published names other than the correct name are called synonyms. Since taxonomists may disagree as to the circumscription, position or rank of a taxon, there can be more than one correct name for a particular plant. These may also be called synonyms.

In botanical nomenclature, a hybrid may be given a hybrid name, which is a special kind of botanical name, but there is no requirement that a hybrid name should be created for plants that are believed to be of hybrid origin. The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICNafp) provides the following options in dealing with a hybrid:

In zoological nomenclature, the valid name of a taxon is the correct scientific name for that taxon. The valid name must be used for that taxon, regardless of any other name that may currently be used for that taxon, or may previously have been used. A name can only be valid when it is an available name under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN); if a name is unavailable, then it cannot be considered either valid or invalid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conserved name</span> Conserved name (a protected scientific name)

A conserved name or nomen conservandum is a scientific name that has specific nomenclatural protection. That is, the name is retained, even though it violates one or more rules which would otherwise prevent it from being legitimate. Nomen conservandum is a Latin term, meaning "a name to be conserved". The terms are often used interchangeably, such as by the International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (ICN), while the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature favours the term "conserved name".

In botanical nomenclature, autonyms are automatically created names, as regulated by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants that are created for certain subdivisions of genera and species, those that include the type of the genus or species. An autonym might not be mentioned in the publication that creates it as a side-effect. Autonyms "repeat unaltered" the genus name or species epithet of the taxon being subdivided, and no other name for that same subdivision is validly published. For example, Rubus subgenus Eubatus is not validly published, and the subgenus is known as Rubus subgen. Rubus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paratype</span> Taxonomic term

In zoology and botany, a paratype is a specimen of an organism that helps define what the scientific name of a species and other taxon actually represents, but it is not the holotype. Often there is more than one paratype. Paratypes are usually held in museum research collections.

The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently.

In zoological nomenclature, an available name is a scientific name for a taxon of animals that has been published conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature for the establishment of a zoological name.

In biological nomenclature, the principle of typification is one of the guiding principles.

In botanical nomenclature, a validly published name is a name that meets the requirements in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants for valid publication. Valid publication of a name represents the minimum requirements for a botanical name to exist: terms that appear to be names but have not been validly published are referred to in the ICN as "designations".

References

  1. ↑ D'Arcy, W.G. (1979). "(463) Proposal to Conserve the Name Agalinis Raf. (1837) against Virgularia Ruiz & Pavon (1794) (Scrophulariaceae)". Taxon. 28 (4): 419–422. doi:10.2307/1219765. JSTOR   1219765.
  2. ↑ McNeill, J.; Barrie, F.R.; Burdet, H.M.; Demoulin, V.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Marhold, K.; Nicolson, D.H.; Prado, J.; Silva, P.C.; Skog, J.E.; Wiersema, J.; Turland, N.J., eds. (2006). International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code). Adopted by the Seventeenth International Botanical Congress Vienna, Austria, July 2005. Rugell, Liechtenstein: A. R. G. Gantner. ISBN   3-906166-48-1. Appendix III, page 289
  3. 1 2 3 4 Nicolson, Dan (1991). "A history of botanical nomenclature". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden . 78 (1): 33–56. doi:10.2307/2399589. JSTOR   2399589.
  4. ↑ Strickland, Hugh Edwin (1843). "Report of a Committee 'appointed to consider the rules by which the nomenclature of zoology may be established on a uniform and permanent basis'". Report of the Twelfth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science Held at Manchester in June 1942. Vol. 12. London: John Murray. pp. 105–121.
  5. ↑ McNeill, J.; Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F.; Smith, G.F.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. (2012). "Principle IV; Article 11". International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile 154. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. ISBN   978-3-87429-425-6.
  6. ↑ Brickell, C.D.; Alexander, C.; David, J.C.; Hetterscheid, W.L.A.; Leslie, A.C.; Malecot, V.; Jin, X.; Cubey, J.J. (2009), "Principle 3" (PDF), International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP or Cultivated Plant Code) incorporating the Rules and Recommendations for naming plants in cultivation, Eighth Edition, Adopted by the International Union of Biological Sciences International Commission for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants, International Association for Plant Taxonomy and International Society for Horticultural Science, ISBN   978-90-6605-662-6
  7. ↑ Darbyshire, S.J. (1993). "Realignment of Festuca Subgenus Schedonorus with the Genus Lolium (Poaceae)". Novon. 3 (3): 239–243. doi:10.2307/3391460. JSTOR   3391460.
  8. ↑ "Tropicos.org" . Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  9. ↑ "Kew" . Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  10. ↑ McNeill, J.; Barrie, F.R.; Buck, W.R.; Demoulin, V.; Greuter, W.; Hawksworth, D.L.; Herendeen, P.S.; Knapp, S.; Marhold, K.; Prado, J.; Prud'homme Van Reine, W.F.; Smith, G.F.; Wiersema, J.H.; Turland, N.J. (2012). "Article 49". International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile 154. A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG. ISBN   978-3-87429-425-6.
  11. ↑ John Mark Egger (2008). "Nomenclatural changes and selected lectotypifications in Castilleja (Orobanchaceae)". Phytologia. 90: 63–82.
  12. ↑ "Australian Plant Names Index" . Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  13. ↑ ICZN 1999 (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 1999 Ed.).
  14. ↑ "Universal Chalcidoidea Database".
  15. ↑ "Universal Chalcidoidea Database".
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