nomen dubium

Translingual

Etymology

From Latin nomen (“name”) + dubium (“dubious”).

Noun

nomen dubium (plural nomina dubia)

  1. (taxonomy) In zoological nomenclature, a name that is not described clearly enough to recognize, generally when a type specimen can not be examined or lacks essential diagnostic characters.
    • 1999, Ulrich Schmid, “Syrphus obscuripes Strobl, 1910: ein älteres Synonym von Epistrophe similis Doczkal & Schmid, 1994 (Diptera, Syrphidae)”, in Volucella‎, volume 4 (in German), pages 103–104:
      Da der Typus von obscuripes trotz zweimaliger Nachsuche nicht aufzufinden war, mussten wir obscuripes als nomen dubium betrach­ten.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2003, O. A. Sӕther, L. C. Ferrington Jr., “Nomenclature notes on some orthoclads (Diptera: Chironomidae)”, in Zootaxa‎, volume 322 (in English), pages 1–7:
      Camptocladius hexalobus Kieffer, 1924: 395 (= Pseudosmittia hexalobus Kieffer, nomen dubium). Type lost. A likely senior synonym of either P. trilobata or P. obtusa.

See also
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