Tautonymy (zoology)

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As used in zoological nomenclature, tautonymy occurs when the name of a species or subspecies is the same as the name of the genus. That is, the generic name is repeated as the specific name or subspecific name. Although forbidden in botanical nomenclature, it is allowed in zoological nomenclature. Examples of tautonymy are:

• Natrix natrix (Linnaeus, 1758), the grass snake
• Gorilla gorilla gorilla (Savage, 1847), the Western Lowland Gorilla.

The ICZN has dropped the use of "tautonym" as a formal term in favor of "tautonymous name". In informal usage "tautonym" continues in use among zoologists, as in the list of tautonyms.

Besides being forbidden, usage in botanical nomenclature is rather different: for one thing the ICBN does not use the term "tautonymy", but only uses the noun "tautonym".