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Nomen dubium

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In binomial nomenclature, a nomen dubium (Latin for "doubtful name", plural nomina dubia) is a scientific name that is of unknown or doubtful application.

Zoology

In case of a nomen dubium, it may be impossible to determine whether a specimen belongs to that group or not. This may happen if the original type series (i. e. holotype, isotype, syntype or paratype) is lost or destroyed. The zoological and botanical codes allow for a new type specimen, or neotype, to be chosen in this case.

A name may also be considered a nomen dubium if its name-bearing type is fragmentary or lacking important diagnostic features (this is often the case for species known only as fossils). To preserve stability of names, the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature allows a new type specimen, or neotype, to be chosen for a nomen dubium in this case.

75.5. Replacement of unidentifiable name-bearing type by a neotype. When an author considers that the taxonomic identity of a nominal species-group taxon cannot be determined from its existing name-bearing type (i.e. its name is a nomen dubium), and stability or universality are threatened thereby, the author may request the Commission to set aside under its plenary power [Art. 81] the existing name-bearing type and designate a neotype.[1]

For example, the crocodile-like archosaurian reptile Parasuchus hislopi Lydekker, 1885 was described based on a premaxillary rostrum (part of the snout), but this is no longer sufficient to distinguish Parasuchus from its close relatives. This made the name Parasuchus hislopi a nomen dubium. In 2001 a paleontologist proposed that a new type specimen, a complete skeleton, be designated.[2] The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature considered the case and agreed in 2003 to replace the original type specimen with the proposed neotype.[3]

Discover more about Zoology related topics

Holotype

Holotype

A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several examples, but explicitly designated as the holotype. Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), a holotype is one of several kinds of name-bearing types. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) and ICZN, the definitions of types are similar in intent but not identical in terminology or underlying concept.

Syntype

Syntype

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.

Paratype

Paratype

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.

Name-bearing type

Name-bearing type

Under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (Code), the name-bearing type is the biological type that determines the application of a name. Each animal taxon regulated by the Code at least potentially has a name-bearing type. The name-bearing type can be either a type genus, type species, or one or more type specimens. For example, the name Mabuya maculata has often been used for the Noronha skink, but because the name-bearing type of the former, a lizard preserved in the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris, does not represent the same species as the Noronha skink, the name maculata cannot be used for the latter.

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

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 International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The rules principally regulate:How names are correctly established in the frame of binominal nomenclature Which name must be used in case of name conflicts How scientific literature must cite names

Crocodile

Crocodile

Crocodiles or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia, which includes the alligators and caimans, the gharial and false gharial among other extinct taxa.

Archosaur

Archosaur

Archosauria is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term, which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian dinosaurs, pterosaurs, and extinct relatives of crocodilians. Modern paleontologists define Archosauria as a crown group that includes the most recent common ancestor of living birds and crocodilians, and all of its descendants. The base of Archosauria splits into two clades: Pseudosuchia, which includes crocodilians and their extinct relatives, and Avemetatarsalia, which includes birds and their extinct relatives.

Richard Lydekker

Richard Lydekker

Richard Lydekker was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.

Premaxilla

Premaxilla

The premaxilla is one of a pair of small cranial bones at the very tip of the upper jaw of many animals, usually, but not always, bearing teeth. In humans, they are fused with the maxilla. The "premaxilla" of therian mammal has been usually termed as the incisive bone. Other terms used for this structure include premaxillary bone or os premaxillare, intermaxillary bone or os intermaxillare, and Goethe's bone.

Rostrum (anatomy)

Rostrum (anatomy)

Rostrum is a term used in anatomy for a number of phylogenetically unrelated structures in different groups of animals.

Parasuchus

Parasuchus

Parasuchus is an extinct genus of basal phytosaur known from the Late Triassic of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India. At its most restricted definition, Parasuchus contains a single species, Parasuchus hislopi. Parasuchus hislopi is one of several species belonging to a basal grade of phytosaurs, typified by the genus Paleorhinus. Historically, Paleorhinus has been known from better-described fossils, and many species have been lumped into that genus. Parasuchus hislopi, despite being described earlier than Paleorhinus, was considered an undiagnostic chimera until new neotype fossils were described in the late 1970s. Parasuchus hislopi and the two unambiguously valid species of Paleorhinus are all closely related; some authors have historically described them all under the species Paleorhinus, while others place the two Paleorhinus species into Parasuchus according to the principle of priority.

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is an organization dedicated to "achieving stability and sense in the scientific naming of animals". Founded in 1895, it currently comprises 26 commissioners from 20 countries.

Bacteriology

In bacteriological nomenclature, nomina dubia may be placed on the list of rejected names by the Judicial Commission. The meaning of these names is uncertain. Other categories of names that may be treated in this way (rule 56a) are:[4]

  • ambiguous names, nomina ambigua, have been used with more than one meaning
  • names causing confusion, nomina confusa, are based on a mixed culture
  • perplexing names, nomina perplexa, confusingly similar names
  • perilous names, nomina periculosa, names that may lead to accidents endangering life or health or with potential serious economic consequences

Botany

In botanical nomenclature the phrase nomen dubium has no status, although it is informally used for names whose application has become confusing. In this regard, its synonym nomen ambiguum is of more frequent use. Such names may be proposed for rejection.

Source: "Nomen dubium", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, February 28th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nomen_dubium.

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See also
References
  1. ^ International Code of Zoological Nomenclature Archived 24 May 2009 at the Wayback Machine (4th edition, 1999)
  2. ^ Case 3165, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 58:1 Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, 30 March 2001.
  3. ^ Opinion 2045, Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature 60:2 Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, 30 June 2003.
  4. ^ SP Lapage; PHA Sneath; EF Lessel; VBD Skerman; HPR Seeliger; WA Clark, eds. (1992). International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria: Bacteriological Code, 1990 Revision. ASM Press.

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