Principle of Priority

Priority is a fundamental principle of modern botanical nomenclature and zoological nomenclature. Essentially, it is the principle of recognising the first valid application of a name to a plant or animal. There are two aspects to this:

1. The first formal scientific name given to a plant or animal taxon shall be the name that is to be used, called the valid name in zoology and correct name in botany.
2. Once a name has been used, no subsequent publication of that name for another taxon shall be valid (zoology) or validly published (botany).