In
zoological nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...
, an unavailable name is a name that does not conform to the rules of the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the Int ...
and that therefore is not available for use as a valid name for a
taxon
In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
. Such a name does not fulfil the requirements in Articles 10 through 20 of the Code, or is excluded under Article 1.3.
Unavailable names include names that have not been validly published, such as "''
Oryzomys hypenemus''", names without an accompanying description (''
nomina nuda''), such as the subgeneric name ''Micronectomys'' proposed for the
Nicaraguan rice rat, names proposed with a rank below that of
subspecies (
infrasubspecific names), such as ''Sorex isodon princeps montanus'' for a form of the
taiga shrew,
[Hutterer & Zaitsev, 2004, p. 89] and various other categories.
Notes
{{reflist
References
*Hershkovitz, P. 1970. Supplementary notes on Neotropical ''Oryzomys dimidiatus'' and ''Oryzomys hammondi'' (Cricetinae). Journal of Mammalogy 51(4): 789-794.
*Hutterer, R. & Zaitsev, M.V. 2004. Cases of homonymy in some Palaearctic and Nearctic taxa of the genus ''Sorex'' L. (Mammalia: Soricidae). Mammal Study 29:89-91.
*International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature. 1999. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th edition. London: The International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. Available online at https://web.archive.org/web/20090524144249/http://www.iczn.org/iczn/index.jsp. Accessed September 27, 2009.
Zoological nomenclature