Principle of the First Reviser

In zoology, the Principle of the First Reviser is one of the guiding principles of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

It supplements the Principle of Priority, which states that the first published name takes precedence. The Principle of the First Reviser deals with situations that cannot be resolved by priority, namely where there are two or more items that have the same date of publication (or the same year of publication when no details are known). These items may be two or more different names for the same taxon, two or more names with the same spelling used for different taxa, two or more different spellings of a particular name, etc. In such cases the first subsequent author who deals with the matter, makes a choice and publishes the decision in the required manner, the First Reviser, is to be followed. [Art. 24.2].