Homonym (biology)
In biology, a homonym is a name for a taxon that is identical in spelling to another such name, that belongs to a different taxon.
The rule in the
- For example:
- Cuvier proposed the genus Echidna in 1797 for the spiny anteater.
- However, Forster had already 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.
- Illiger published the replacement name Tachyglossus in 1811.
Similarly, the
- Example: the later homonym Leguminosae, is conserved against the earlier homonym Myroxylon J.R.Forst. & G.Forst. (1775) (now called Xylosma, in the family Salicaceae).
Limits and exceptions
Under the zoological code, homonymy can only occur within each of the three nomenclatural ranks (family-rank, genus-rank, and species-rank) but not between them; there are thousands of cases where a species epithet is identical to a genus name but not a homonym (sometimes even occurring in the genus it is identical to, such as Gorilla gorilla, termed a "tautonym"), and there are some rare cases where a family-rank name and a genus-rank name are identical (e.g., the superfamily name Ranoidea and the genus name Ranoidea are not homonyms). The botanical code is generally similar, but prohibits tautonyms.
Parahomonyms
Under the botanical code, names that are similar enough that they are likely to be confused are also considered to be homonymous (article 53.3). For example, Astrostemma Benth. (1880) is an illegitimate homonym of Asterostemma Decne. (1838). The zoological code considers even a single letter difference to be sufficient to render family-rank and genus-rank names distinct (Article 56.2), though for species names, the ICZN specifies a number of spelling variations (Article 58) that are considered to be identical.
Hemihomonyms
Both codes only consider taxa that are in their respective scope (animals for the ICZN; primarily plants for the ICN). Therefore, if an animal taxon has the same name as a plant taxon, both names are valid. Such names are called hemihomonyms.
Hemihomonyms are possible at the species level as well, with organisms in different kingdoms sharing the same binomial nomenclature. For instance, Orestias elegans denotes both a species of fish (kingdom Animalia) and a species of orchid (kingdom Plantae). Such duplication of binomials occurs in at least ten instances.
| Animal | Plant/Fungus |
| Adesmia muricata (Linnaeus, 1758) (a beetle) | Adesmia muricata (Jacq.) DC. (a legume) |
| Agathis montana Shestakov, 1932 (a wasp) | Agathis montana de Laub. (the Mount Panié kauri, a conifer) |
| Asterina gibbosa (Pennant, 1777) (the starlet cushion star, a starfish) | Asterina gibbosa Gaillard (a fungus) |
| Baileya australis (Grote, 1881) (the small baileya moth) | Baileya australis Rydb. syn. B. multiradiata (a desert marigold) |
| Centropogon australis (White, 1790) (the fortescue, a waspfish) | Centropogon australis Gleason (a bellflower) |
| Cuspidaria cuspidata (Olivi, 1792) (a bivalve) | Cuspidaria cuspidata (M. Bieb.) Takht. syn. Erysimum cuspidatum (a wallflower) |
| Ficus variegata Röding, 1798 (the true fig shell, a sea snail) | Ficus variegata Blume (the common red-stem fig) |
| Gaussia princeps (T. Scott, 1894) (a copepod) | Gaussia princeps H.Wendl. (a palm) |
| Orestias elegans Garman, 1895 (a pupfish) | Orestias elegans Ridl. (an orchid) |
| Tritonia pallida Stimpson, 1855 (a nudibranch) | Tritonia pallida Ker Gawl. (an iris) |
See also
- Glossary of scientific naming
- Isonym – Term in botanical nomenclature, an identical name based on the same type, but published later. Isonyms have no nomenclatural status (they are not validly published).
References
- ^ "International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, Articles 53, 15, and 13". Retrieved 14 June 2013.
- .
External links
Data related to List of valid homonyms at Wikispecies