Binomial Nomenclature Rules
There are some certain rules in Binomial Nomenclature to be followed in order to specify the scientific name of animal and plants. For example, the generic name is written in uppercase, while the specific name is in lowercase. Additionally, the entire name should be italicized when typed and underlined when writing by pen.
Modern Humans |
|
---|---|
Generic Name | Homo |
Specific Name | sapiens |
- Every scientific name should be Latinized or derived from Latin.
- The name should be unique to each organism i.e. no two organisms should have the same scientific name.
- The first name should always be the generic name and the second one should always be the species/specific epithet.
- If handwritten it should always be underlined, and if printed then it should be italicized.
- The first alphabet of the generic name should be in capital and the first alphabet of the species epithet should be small, for example, human = Homo sapiens.
- When required the name of the discoverer or author should be added in abbreviated form after the species epithet, for example, mango = Mangifera indica Linn.
Based on these rules scientific naming is currently governed by international communities like; the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) for botanical names, the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for zoological names, the International Code for Bacteriological Nomenclature (ICBact.N) for bacteria, etc.
Scientific Names of Animals and Plants
Scientific names of animals and plants are frequently used for categorizing animals and plants based on their genus and species. The Binomial Nomenclature are generally derived from Latin words. Binomial Nomenclature consists of two names – genus and species.
As the local names vary from place to place and can not be learned easily, scientific names in Binomial Nomenclature are very helpful in studying animals and plants. Carl Linnaeus gave this system of Binomial Nomenclature. In this article, we will study the rules of binomial nomenclature, and scientific names of some common plants and animals.
Table of Content
- What is Scientific Nomenclature?
- What is Binomial Nomenclature?
- Binomial Nomenclature Rules
- List of Scientific Names of Animals
- List of Scientific Names of Plants
- List of Scientific Name of Extinct Organisms
- Importance of Binomial Nomenclature