# Available name > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Available_name > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Available_name.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Available_name > Source revision: 1349080659 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Properly constructed taxonomic name}} In [zoological](/source/zoological) nomenclature, an '''available name''' is a [scientific name](/source/Binomial_nomenclature) for a [taxon](/source/taxon) of animals that has been published after 1757 and conforming to all the mandatory provisions of the [International Code of Zoological Nomenclature](/source/International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature) for the establishment of a zoological name. In contrast, an '''unavailable name''' is a name that does not conform to the rules of that code and that therefore is not available for use as a valid name for a [taxon](/source/taxon). Such a name does not fulfill the requirements in Articles 10 through 20 of the Code, or is excluded under Article 1.3. ==Requirements== For a name to be available, in addition to meeting certain criteria for publication, there are a number of general requirements it must fulfill: it must include a description or definition of the taxon, must use only the [Latin alphabet](/source/Latin_alphabet), must be formulated within the [binomial nomenclature](/source/binomial_nomenclature) framework, must be newly-proposed (not a redescription under the same name of a taxon previously made available) and originally used as a [valid name](/source/Valid_name_(zoology)) rather than as a synonym, must not be for a [hybrid](/source/Hybrid_(biology)) or hypothetical taxon, must not be for a taxon below the rank of subspecies, etc. In some rare cases, a name which does not meet these requirements may nevertheless be available, for historical reasons, as the criteria for availability have become more stringent with successive Code editions.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted-sites/iczn/code/ |title=ICZN article 12|accessdate=12 January 2024}} For example, a name originally appearing along with an illustration but no formal description may be an available name, but only if the illustration was published prior to 1930 (under Article 12.2.7). All available names must refer to a [type](/source/Types_in_zoology), even if one was not provided at the time the name was first proposed. For species-level names, the type is usually a single specimen (a [holotype](/source/holotype), [lectotype](/source/lectotype), or [neotype](/source/neotype)); for generic-level names, the type is a single species; for family-level names, the type is a single genus. This hierarchical system of typification provides a concrete empirical anchor for all zoological names. An available name is not necessarily a [valid name](/source/valid_name_(zoology)), because an available name may be a [homonym](/source/Homonym_(biology)) or subsequently be placed into [synonymy](/source/synonym_(taxonomy)). However, a valid name must always be an available one. ==Unavailable names== Unavailable names include names that have not been published, such as "''[Oryzomys hypenemus](/source/Oryzomys_hypenemus)''" and "[Ubirajara jubatus](/source/Ubirajara_jubatus)",{{Cite journal|last1=Caetano|first1=João Marcus Vale|last2=Delcourt|first2=Rafael|last3=Ponciano|first3=Luiza Corral Martins de Oliveira|name-list-style=amp|date=March 2023|title=A taxon with no name: 'Ubirajara jubatus' (Saurischia: Compsognathidae) is an unavailable name and has no nomenclatural relevance|journal=Zootaxa|volume=5254 |issue=3 |pages=443–446 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5254.3.10|doi-access=free|pmid=37044710 }} names without an accompanying description (''nomina nuda'', singular ''[nomen nudum](/source/nomen_nudum)''), such as the subgeneric name ''Micronectomys'' proposed for the [Nicaraguan rice rat](/source/Nicaraguan_rice_rat),Hershkovitz, 1970, pp. 789, 791 names proposed with a rank below that of [subspecies](/source/subspecies) ([infrasubspecific name](/source/infrasubspecific_name)s), such as ''Sorex isodon princeps montanus'' for a form of the [taiga shrew](/source/taiga_shrew),Hutterer & Zaitsev, 2004, p. 89 and various other categories. Despite the frequent confusion caused by common sense, an unavailable name is not necessarily a ''nomen nudum''. A good exemplification of this is the case of the unavailable [dinosaur](/source/dinosaur) name "[Ubirajara jubatus](/source/Ubirajara_jubatus)", which was assumed by common sense to be a ''nomen nudum'' before a detailed analysis of its nomenclatural status.{{Cite journal|last1=Caetano|first1=João Marcus Vale|last2=Delcourt|first2=Rafael|last3=Ponciano|first3=Luiza Corral Martins de Oliveira|name-list-style=amp|date=March 2023|title=A taxon with no name: 'Ubirajara jubatus' (Saurischia: Compsognathidae) is an unavailable name and has no nomenclatural relevance|journal=Zootaxa|volume=5254 |issue=3 |pages=443–446 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.5254.3.10|doi-access=free|pmid=37044710 }} ==Contrast to botany== Under the [International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants](/source/International_Code_of_Nomenclature_for_algae%2C_fungi%2C_and_plants), this term is not used. In botany, the corresponding term is [validly published name](/source/validly_published_name_(botany)).{{cite book|url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/main.php?page=glo|author1=McNeill, J. |author2=Barrie, F.R. |author3=Buck, W.R. |author4=Demoulin, V. |author5=Greuter, W. |author6=Hawksworth, D.L. |author7=Herendeen, P.S. |author8=Knapp, S. |author9=Marhold, K. |author10=Prado, J. |author11=Reine, W.F.P.h.V. |author12=Smith, G.F. |author13=Wiersema, J.H. |author14=Turland, N.J. |year=2012|title=International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (Melbourne Code) adopted by the Eighteenth International Botanical Congress Melbourne, Australia, July 2011: Glossary|volume=Regnum Vegetabile 154|publisher=A.R.G. Gantner Verlag KG|isbn=978-3-87429-425-6}} The botanical equivalent of zoology's term "valid name" is [correct name](/source/Correct_name_(botany)). ==References== {{reflist}} ==Bibliography== *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. Category:Zoological nomenclature {{zoology-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Available name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Available_name) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Available_name?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.