Intaxonomy, a nomen nudum ('naked name'; plural nomina nuda) is a designation[2] which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate description. This makes it a "bare" or "naked" name, which cannot be accepted as it stands.[3] A largely equivalent but much less frequently used term is nomen tantum ("name only"). Sometimes, "nomina nuda" is erroneously considered a synonym for the term "unavailable names". However, not all unavailable names are nomina nuda.[4]
nomen nudum (pl. nomina nuda), n. A Latin term referring to a name that, if published before 1931, fails to conform to Article 12; or, if published after 1930, fails to conform to Article 13. […]
And among the rules of that same Zoological Code:
12.1. To be available, every new name published before 1931 must … be accompanied by a description or a definition of the taxon that it denotes, or by an indication [that is, a reference to such a description or definition]. …
13.1. To be available, every new name published after 1930 must … be accompanied by a description or definition that states in words characters that are purported to differentiate the taxon, or be accompanied by a bibliographic reference to such a published statement.
A designation of a new taxon published without a description or diagnosis or reference to a description or diagnosis.
The requirements for the diagnosis or description are covered by articles 32, 36, 41, 42, and 44.[6]
Nomina nuda that were published before 1 January 1959 can be used to establish a cultivar name. For example, Veronica sutherlandii, a nomen nudum, has been used as the basis for Hebe pinguifolia 'Sutherlandii'.[7]
^Turland, N. (2013). The Code Decoded: A user's guide to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Vol. Regnum Vegetabile Volume 155. Koeltz Scientific Books. ISBN978-3-87429-433-1.
^"What is a nomen nudum?". International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
^Caetano, João Marcus Vale; Delcourt, Rafael & Ponciano, Luiza Corral Martins de Oliveira (March 2023). "A taxon with no name: 'Ubirajara jubatus' (Saurischia: Compsognathidae) is an unavailable name and has no nomenclatural relevance". Zootaxa. 5254 (3): 443–446. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.5254.3.10. PMID37044710. S2CID257500264.
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International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. "Glossary". International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
