The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in the naming of all animals according to taxonomic judgment. The Code is meant to guide only the nomenclature of animals, while leaving the zoologists some degree of freedom in classifying new species and higher-level taxa. In other words, whether a species itself is or is not a real entity is a subjective decision, but what name should be applied to it is not; the Code applies only to the latter, not to the former. A new taxon name published without adherence to the Code may be deemed simply "unavailable" if it fails to meet certain criteria, or fall entirely out of the province of science (e.g., the "scientific name" for the Loch Ness Monster). Zoology is the biological discipline which involves the study of non-human animals. ... Look up taxonomy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Nomenclature is a system of naming and categorizing objects in a given category. ... Phyla Subregnum Parazoa Porifera Subregnum Eumetazoa Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Radiata (unranked) Ctenophora Cnidaria Bilateria (unranked) Acoelomorpha Myxozoa Superphylum Deuterostomia Chordata Hemichordata Echinodermata Chaetognatha Xenoturbellida Superphylum Ecdysozoa Kinorhyncha Loricifera Priapulida Nematoda Nematomorpha Onychophora Tardigrada Arthropoda Superphylum Platyzoa Platyhelminthes Gastrotricha Rotifera Acanthocephala Gnathostomulida Micrognathozoa Cycliophora Superphylum Lophotrochozoa Sipuncula Nemertea Phoronida Bryozoa Entoprocta... Zoology (Greek zoon = animal and logos = word) is the biological discipline which involves the study of animals. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... The famous Surgeons photo (1934), today known to be a hoax. ...

The rules in the Code determine what names are potentially valid for any taxon including the ranks of subspecies and superfamily. Its provisions can be waived or modified in their application to a particular case when strict adherence would cause confusion. Such exceptions are not made by an individual scientist, no matter how well-respected within his or her field, but only by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), acting on behalf of all zoologists. The Commission takes such action in response to proposals submitted to it. Note that, formally, the acronym "ICZN" refers to the Commission, and not the Code. Misapplications of the acronym are pervasive, however, and even taxonomists will use the acronym occasionally when referring to the Code. In zoology, as in other branches of biology, subspecies is the rank immediately subordinate to a species. ... In biology, a superfamily is a taxonomic grade intermediate between suborder and family. ... The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in classifying all animals according to taxonomic judgment. ...

The Code recognizes no case law. Any dispute is decided by applying the Code directly, and never by reference to precedent. Case law (precedential law) is the body of judge-made law and legal decisions that interprets prior case law, statutes and other legal authority -- including doctrinal writings by legal scholars such as the Corpus Juris Secundum, Halsburys Laws of England or the doctinal writings found in the Recueil Dalloz...

Rules and examples of their application

The first published name of an organism or group takes priority; later names for that organism or group are junior synonyms and are not considered valid. In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example two names for the same species. ...

• John Edward Gray published the name Antilocapra anteflexa in 1855 for a species of pronghorn, based on a pair of horns. However, it is now thought that his specimen was an unusual individual of the species Antilocapra americana published by George Ord in 1815. Ord's name thus takes priority, with Antilocapra anteflexa being a junior synonym.
• Johann Jakob Kaup published the name Leptocephalus brevirostris in 1856 for a species of eel. However, it was realized in 1893 that the organism described by Kaup was in fact the juvenile form of the European eel (see eel life history for the full story). The European eel was named Muraena anguilla by Carolus Linnaeus in 1758 and moved to the genus Anguilla by Franz Paula von Schrank in 1798. So Anguilla anguilla is now the valid name for the species, and Leptocephalus brevirostris is considered a junior synonym.

The first published use of a name takes priority; later uses of a name spelled the same but used to refer to different organisms are junior homonyms and must be given replacement names. John Edward Gray. ... Binomial name Antilocapra americana Ord, 1815 Subspecies The pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) is the only surviving member of the family Antilocapridae, and the fastest land animal in North America running at speeds of 54 mph (90 km/h). ... George Ord (1781 - January 24, 1866) was an American ornithologist. ... Johann Jakob Kaup (April 10, 1803 - July 4, 1873) was a German naturalist. ... For other uses, see Eel (disambiguation). ... Binomial name Anguilla anguilla (Linnaeus, 1758) The European Eel, Anguilla anguilla, is a snakelike fish. ... Leptocephalus larva of an ocean eel The eel is a long, thin bony fish of the order Anguilliformes. ... Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Franz Paula von Schrank (1747 - 1835) was a German botanist and entomologist. ...

• Georges Cuvier proposed the genus Echidna in 1797 for the spiny anteater. However, Johann Reinhold Forster had published the name Echidna in 1777 for a genus of moray eels. Forster's use thus has priority, with Cuvier's being a junior homonym; Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger published the name Tachyglossus in 1811 and this is considered to be the valid replacement name, or nomen novum.

The first published description of a species fixes the species epithet; if the species is later moved to another genus, it retains the first-published epithet unless that would create a homonym. Georges Cuvier Baron Georges Léopold Chrétien Frédéric Dagobert Cuvier (August 23, 1769–May 13, 1832) was a French naturalist and zoologist. ... Species Genus Tachyglossus    T. aculeatus Genus Zaglossus    Z. attenboroughi    Z. bruijnii    Z. bartoni    Z. hacketti(extinct)    Z. robustus(extinct) Echidnas, sometimes also referred to as spiny anteaters, are the only surviving monotremes apart from the Platypus. ... Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (October 22, 1729 - December 9, 1798) was a German naturalist of Scottish descent. ... Genera See text. ... Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger (November 19, 1775 - May 1813) was a German entomologist who also worked on birds and mammals. ...

• The Common Chimpanzee was named Simia troglodytes by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach in 1799; Lorenz Oken moved it to the new genus Pan in 1816, so the valid name is now Pan troglodytes.
• Two species of Madagascar snake were given the species epithet madagascariensis by André Marie Constant Duméril and Gabriel Bibron in 1844 — Pelophilus madagascariensis and Xiphosoma madagascariensis. George Albert Boulenger moved the former to the genus Boa in 1893, giving it the name Boa madagascariensis. This meant that when Arnold G. Kluge of the Museum of Zoology at the University of Michigan moved Xiphosoma madagascariensis to the genus Boa in 1991, the name Boa madagascariensis was invalid — a junior secondary homonym. So Kluge gave the species the replacement name Boa manditra. This example also demonstrates a case where rules of gender agreement come into play (a tradition which has become more controversial in recent years). That is, an adjectival species epithet must - with very few exceptions - agree in gender with the name of the genus in which it is placed. If a species is moved, therefore, often it must have its spelling changed as a result. The genus name Xiphosoma is neuter in gender, and therefore the original spelling of the species should have been madagascariense, which is the neuter form - the spelling change to madagascariensis would occur only after being placed in Boa. Epithets that are nouns, or arbitrary combinations of letters, are not changed, but this is not always obvious from the appearance of a name, as in manditra, which is a noun, and would not change if, for example, it were moved to the genus Pelophilus (it would become Pelophilus manditra and not Pelophilus manditrus). Changes in placement, or confusion over proper Latin grammar, lead to many incorrectly-formed names appearing in print, and automated searches failing to find all the variant spellings of a given name (e.g., the epithets atra and ater may refer to the same species). Accordingly, many laymen and some scientists object to the continued adherence to this long-standing practice.

In the interests of stability of nomenclature, the rule of priority can be reversed if a junior name has been used very widely and for a long period of time. Binomial name Pan troglodytes (Blumenbach, 1775) distribution of Common Chimpanzee. ... Johann Friedrich Blumenbach Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (May 11, 1752 - January 22, 1840) was a German physiologist and anthropologist. ... Lorenz Oken (August 1, 1779 - August 11, 1851), was a German naturalist, real name Lorenz Ockenfuss. ... Type Species Simia troglodytes Blumenbach, 1775 Species Pan troglodytes Pan paniscus Chimpanzee, often shortened to chimp, is the common name for the two extant species in the genus Pan. ... Constant Duméril. ... Gabriel Bibron (1806 - 1848) was a French zoologist. ... George Boulenger. ... Boa Kwon (born November 5, 1986 in Guri, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea) is an iconic Korean singer who is better known by her artistic name of BoA. She has released albums in both South Korea and Japan. ... The University of Michigan (commonly known as the U of M, or UM) is a coeducational public research university in the U.S. state of Michigan. ...

• Carolus Linnaeus named the Domestic Cat Felis catus in 1758; Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber named the Wild Cat Felis silvestris in 1775. For taxonomists who consider these two kinds of cat to be a single species rule of priority means that the species ought to be named F. catus but in practice almost all biologists have used F. silvestris for the wild cat. In opinion 2027 (published in Volume 60, Part 1 of the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature, 31 March 2003 [1]) the Commission "conserved the usage of 17 specific names based on wild species, which are pre-dated by or contemporary with those based on domestic forms", confirming F. silvestris for the wild cat, as a nomen protectum. Taxonomists who consider the domesticated cat a subspecies of the wild cat should use F. silvestris catus; the name F. catus remains available for the domestic cat where it is considered to be a separate species.

Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as  , (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Trinomial name Felis silvestris catus Schreber, 1775 For alternative meanings see cat (disambiguation). ... Johann Christian Daniel von Schreber (1739 - 1810) was a German naturalist. ... Binomial name Felis silvestris Schreber, 1775 subspecies See text The wild cat (Felis silvestris), sometimes wildcat or wild-cat especially when distinguishing from other wild species of felines, is a small predator native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa. ... // A conserved name or nomen conservandum (plural nomina conservanda) is a scientific name that enjoys special nomenclatural protection. ...

See also

• binomen
• trinomen
• rank (zoology)
• homonym (zoology)
• synonym (zoology)
• nomen protectum
• International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

In zoology, a binomen, or binominal name, is the name of a species. ... In zoology, a trinomen, or trinominal name, refers to the name of a subspecies. ... In zoology, a taxon is usually assigned to a rank in a hierarchy. ... In zoological nomenclature, synonyms are different scientific names that pertain to the same taxon, for example two names for the same species. ... // A conserved name or nomen conservandum (plural nomina conservanda) is a scientific name that enjoys special nomenclatural protection. ... The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) is the set of rules that governs plant nomenclature, i. ...

External links

• ICZN website
• Text of the code
• ZooBank: The World Register of Animal Names