Available name

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, must be formulated within the 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 rather than as a synonym, must not be for a hybrid 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. 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, 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, lectotype, or 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, because an available name may be a homonym or subsequently be placed into synonymy. However, a valid name must always be an available one.