Nomen nudum

In scientific classification, a nomen nudum (Latin for "nude name", plural nomina nuda) is a purported scientific name for an organism that fails to meet the proper formal criteria for scientific use. A name may be a nomen nudum for a number of reasons:

• It may not have been published, or published but in a form that doesn't satisfy the requirements of the appropriate code of nomenclature (for example, published only on the web).
• It may have been published but without the intent to create a new scientific name, for example it may be accompanied with conditions, or with a disclaimer, or simply lacking an indication that the name is intended to be new.
• It may have been published, but without a description or type specimen, or with a description that is inadequate to distinguish that organism from its relatives.

Among the rules of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature:

12.1. To be available [that is, usable as a scientific name], every new name published before 1931 must … be accompanied by a description or a definition of the taxon that it denotes, or by an indication [that is, a reference to such a description or definition]. …

13.1. To be available, every new name published after 1930 must … be accompanied by a description or definition that states in words characters that are purported to differentiate the taxon, or be accompanied by a bibliographic reference to such a published statement.^[1]

A scientific name that does not satisfy these and the other requirements is a nomen nudum. A nomen nudum may be freely reused by a later author.

For example, in his Systema Naturae of 1758, Carolus Linnaeus named the species Homo trogolodytes (literally, "cave-dwelling man"). However, he had no specimen to describe and it is unclear to what animal he was referring — it may have been a chimpanzee, or an orangutan. When Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published a description of the common chimpanzee in De Generis Humani Varietate Nativa in 1775 he used Linnaeus' name, but moved the species to the genus Simia as Simia troglodytes. Since Linnaeus' lack of a description makes his use of Homo troglodytes a nomen nudum, today scientists refer to the common chimpanzee as Pan troglodytes to encompass both descriptions (Blumenbach, 1775 and Linnaeus, 1758).

See also

• Nomen dubium, a valid name but one of unknown or doubtful application.

References

1. ^ International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, 4th edition, 1999.