How are scientific names written?

Answer 1

Most of these answers are on the right track, but not all of them are quite 100% correct.

The scientific names we give organisms follow a number of rules to make sure they are consistent, and they are supposed to ensure that every organism has its own unique name (although sometimes, a mistake slips through).

The process of naming a species is called binomial nomenclature. Binomial refers to the two parts of a scientific name: The genus, and the specific epithet. Officially, the name also requires the name of the person who named the species and the year it was named.

So officially, our own scientific name is Homo sapiens Linnaeus 1758.

The 'Homo sapiens' part is supposed to be in italics (or underlined if you are writing it by hand) because it's in another language (usually Latin, although Greek words are also often used). However, Yahoo Answers does not support such a font change.

The Genus name is always capitalized, while the specific epithet is not. Newspaper editors seem to be physically incapable of comprehending this, however, and you will almost never see a scientific name correctly printed in a newspaper.

Homo is the Genus we belong to, and there can be other members of the Genus (living or extinct). For example, there is Homo erectus, Homo habilis, etc. The Genus name is like our family name in our own names. Dean Jones, Mary Jones, and little Billy Jones are all members of the Jones family.

The second part, the specific epithet, is NOT the species name. The species name requires both the Genus and the specific epithet. Thus our Genus is Homo, and our Species name is Homo sapiens. You cannot separate them. This seems to be the most common mistake in using scientific names. I have even seen many, many zoos and museums use it incorrectly. It's kind of become a pet peeve of mine.

If you've used the full scientific name once, it is acceptable to use only the first initial afterwards (i.e. use H. sapiens instead of the whole binomial), but you cannot use the specific epithet by itself. This is because the specific epithet need not be unique to that species. For example, Castor canadensis is the beaver, while Branta canadensis is the Canada goose. Both use the same specific epithet (which literally means 'from Canada'), but still have unique scientific names.

It would be theoretically possible for another species to have 'sapiens' as their specific epithet. If we found an intelligent species of beaver we might call them Castor sapiens. Actually, the scientific name Musa sapientum is pretty close. That's the scientific name of the banana.

So that's it basically - Genus and specific epithet together make up the binomial scientific name. Genus is capitalized, specific epithet is not. You can't use the specific epithet by itself, and that is not the 'species name'. Write it in italics or underline because it's in a foreign language. If you can, include the name of the person who named the species, and what year it was published.

There are other things like adding in subgenera and subspecies, but don't worry about those.

Answer 2

Species are classified according to several levels. First, you identify what domain, then what kingdom, then the phylum, then the class, then order, then family, then genus and species, with each level more specific than the last. Think of each level as a subdivision of the last.

Here's an example of the classification of the African lion (panthera leo):

Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
Genus: Panthera
Species: Leo

The domain, eukarya, means that the cells are eukaryotic- they have a nucleus to contain the DNA. (Some cells, like bacteria, do not.)
The kingdom, animalia, means that it is an animal.
The phylum, chrodata, means that it has a nerve cord (the spinal cord). Not all animals do (jellyfish, for example).
The class, mammalia, means that it bears live young (rather than laying eggs).
The order, carnivora, means it is a carnivore- a meat eater.
The family, felidae, means it is a cat.
The genus, panthera, tells what type of cat it is, and also gives an idea of what animals might be similar to it- anything else with the genus panthera is closely related.
The species, leo, is the most specific level. Generally, a species is a group of animals that can reproduce and create fertile offspring. African lions, for example, cannot mate with a Bengal tiger and create a cub that would be able to reproduce.

An animal's scientific name is comprised of its genus and species names. Usually, the words are in latin, though they can be in other languages. The names are standard across the world, so all scientists can share their work and call everything the same thing so there's no confusion.

I know this was really detailed, but I think you need to understand the whole system in order to really get what "genus" and "species" are. It isn't enough to just say that an animal's scientific name comes from those two words. Where do the words come from? Who decides? Usually the scientists who discover the species, but there needs to be a concensus from scientists across the world.

Hope this helped!

Answer 3

Scientific manes are written as follow:
1) Genus is written first then the species.
2) The first letter of the genus is written in capital letter and other are written in small letter.
3) All the letters of the species is written in small letter
4) Genus and species are undelined separately.
5) Name of the author can be written being abbreviated.
Example: Scientific name of man is Homo sapiens L.
Where Homo is the genus, sapiens is the species
and L. stands for Linneus as the author.
Author name is not so much necessary.

Answer 4

Most of the answers have it correct. However a couple
of points might be added. Scientific names are
normally printed in a different kind of type, to make
it obvious that they are scientific names. Italics is
the most common, though boldface is sometimes
used instead. Second, it is NOT correct that the
names are all Latin. They may come from any
language, and Greek may be used more often than
Latin. They may even be from no language at all,
that is, they may just be madeup combinations of
letters with no meaning. Several species have
been named for characters in The Lord of the Rings.

Answer 5

How Are Scientific Names Written

Answer 6

Genus an species. Genus initial letter capitalised, italic font. A few examples:

Common fly: Musca domestica (sorry, dont'n know hot to put them in italic here).

Black widow spider: Latrodectus mactans

African elephant: Loxodonta africana

Answer 7

Scientific names are written in Latin. All scientists ofall countries understand them.

Answer 8

Genus then Species

Order of Classification is as follows:
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species

Answer 9

genus then species.
Canis Lupus (Dog family, wolf)
Canis Vulpe (Dog Family, Fox)

Answer 10

They are all written in Latin.