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Are genus and species capitalized?
Should animal names be capitalized or italicized?
Should species be capitalized or italicized?
Are genus and subgenus capitalized?
May 3, 2021 · The binomial name consists of a genus name and specific epithet. The scientific names of species are italicized. The genus name is always capitalized and is written first; the specific epithet follows the genus name and is not capitalized. There is no exception to this.
Mar 9, 2011 · The first element, the genus name, is capitalized; the second element, the species name, is not (even if it derives from a place name, as in Artemisia californica, the name of a plant found in California). Such terms, as shown here, are generally italicized.
Feb 15, 2017 · by Timothy McAdoo. When an animal name is part of a journal article title, it is conventional to provide the animal’s scientific name ( genus and species ). Genus is always capitalized and species is not. Notice that the scientific names are also italicized (see examples on p. 105 of the APA Publication Manual ).
- Understanding The Rules For Writing A Scientific Name
- How to Write Scientific Names
- How to Format Scientific Names in Academic Writing
- Parting Advice: Ensuring Consistency
Precise terminology is vital in scientific writing. Therefore, the current system of taxonomy ensures that authors use standard scientific terms. While naming and categorizing plants and animals has been a common human practice for thousands of years, early attempts were not systematic, so they were sometimes a bit flawed. For instance, in Ancient ...
The basics: What is binomial nomenclature?
The system of binomial nomenclature was first developed by Linnaeus and is still used today. In it, each individual species of organism is given a Latin name consisting of two key elements: 1. thegenusand 2. the species, in that order. However, it is important to note that a scientific name can also contain a subspecies if additional information is necessary to correctly identify a specific animal. All scientific names are standardized by international codes.
Example: What is the scientific name of a cat?
For instance, the scientific name of the domestic housecat is Felis catus(note that because scientific names are in Latin, they are always italicized when written, and the first word is always capitalized). In this case, Felis denotes the genus and catus denotes the species. Together, these two pieces create the scientific name of a domestic cat. To better understand the significance of these categories and how this furry little carnivore fits into the natural order of things, let’s briefly r...
Classifying the domestic cat: All seven classification levels
While these classifications are useful and interesting, only genus, species, and (if applicable)subspeciesare necessary to create a standard binomial scientific name. Kingdom:Animalia—this category encompasses all animals. Phylum:Chordata (subphylum Vertebrata)—this category includes all animals that have chordates or backbones. Class:Mammalia—this category includes all mammals (i.e., animals that have hair, three middle-ear bones, and mammary glands). Order:Carnivora—as you can probably gues...
Italicization
Publications and style guides may vary. However, the scientific name of any species of plants or animals should almost always be italicized.
Capitalization
In addition, the genus (the first component of the name) should always be capitalized, while the species and subspecies are kept in lowercase.
Categories above genus
As mentioned, binomial scientific names should always be italicized, but any category above the level of genus is typically written in roman (i.e., non-italicized) text. The exceptionsare bacteria, fungi, and viruses; for these taxa, italics are also used at the family level.
Lastly, make sure that you use and format scientific names consistently throughout your paper, article, or thesis. When working on a sizable document, making sure that scientific terms are consistently written and formatted throughout can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. That's why it's always helpful to get a second set of eyes on you...
Genus: capitalized and italicized (e.g., Homo) Species: italicized only (not capitalized), but follows genus (e.g., Homo sapiens). Variants: italicized only (not capitalized) . After the first mention, you can abbreviate the genus (e.g., H. sapiens). Scientific names must be provided at least once.
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Both words are italicized, and the first letter of the first word is capitalized. Let us take the example of the elephant again. Image credit: The Asian elephant, CC BY-SA 2.0. The scientific name of the Asian elephant is Elephas maximus. Here "Elephas" is the name of the genus, and "maximus" is the species.
This page in a nutshell: Capitalize above the rank of species, and italicize them from the rank of genus downward. of species and other groupings are lower case except where they contain a proper name. Names of domesticated varieties/breeds may be capitalized, but not informal landraces or types.
