At 10:55 AM 6/4/98 -0400, you wrote:
>I don't know if this has ever actually occurred, but just as a matter
>of curiosity - what would happen, taxonomically speaking, if two
>species in separate genera had the same specific name, and it was
>later determined that they belonged in the same genus?
 
It happens all the time. The later name is a secondary homonym, and must be
replaced. If the name was replaced before 1961 it is permanently invalid. If
it was replaced after 1960 the name can be resurrected if the names are
later moved back into separate genera.
 
For example, Glyphepithema floridana Rehder, 1943 was transferred to the
genus Natica, where it was a secondary homonym of Natica floridana Dall,
1892. The species was renamed Natica bayeri Rehder, 1986, which name turned
out to be a primary homonym of Natica bayeri Koperberg, 1931, so it was
renamed Natica tedbayeri Rehder, 1986. If Glyphepithema is later treated as
a separate genus from Natica, the name G. floridana returns, because the
replacement with Natica bayeri (and N. tedbayeri) occurred after 1960.
 
There is another strange twist possible. If different species have the same
name in homonymous genera, the homonymy is ignored.  For example, Chlamys
reticulata (Reeve, 1853) (a scallop) is not preoccupied by Chlamys
reticulata Klug, 1824 (an insect). (Incidentally, the insect Chlamys Knoch,
1801 was renamed Arthrochlamys Ihering, 1904, because the mollusk Chlamys
Roeding, 1798 was named first.)
 
Gary
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Gary Rosenberg, Ph.D.                     [log in to unmask]
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