Biology
Biodiversity and Scientific Names: Quick Revision
A brief note on Diversity and the Naming of Organisms: how many species we know, why common names fail, the rules of binomial nomenclature and the two codes, and the four basic processes of taxonomy. With a worked example, practice, a program and questions to check yourself.
Written by StemPy LabA brief note on Biodiversity and Scientific Names. Try each question at the end before you open its answer.
Biodiversity
- Between 1.7 and 1.8 million species are known and described, and many more are not.
- Biodiversity is the number and the variety of organisms on Earth.
- Common names change with place and language, and some mislead. So we need nomenclature (naming) and classification (grouping).
- Taxonomy helps agriculture, forestry and industry, and shows us our biological resources.
Binomial nomenclature (Linnaeus)
- Two words: the genus, then the specific epithet.
- Latin, or Latinised.
- In print, italics; by hand, each word underlined separately.
- Genus with a capital letter; epithet with a small letter.
- The author last, in short form, not in italics.
Codes: plants, algae and fungi follow the ICN (older books: ICBN); animals follow the ICZN.
The four basic processes
Characterisation (study the features), identification (is it already known?), classification (group it), nomenclature (name it). Taxonomy covers all four. Systematics adds the evolutionary relationships.
A worked example
Read the name Ficus benghalensis L., the banyan.
- Genus. Ficus, with a capital letter. Every fig tree shares it.
- Specific epithet. benghalensis, "of Bengal", with a small letter.
- Author. L., a short form of Linnaeus, not in italics.
- By hand. Ficus benghalensis, with each word underlined on its own.
Practice with new numbers
A program to try
The program splits five names into genus and epithet, and counts the genera.
Mistakes to avoid
- A capital letter in the epithet: Ficus Religiosa is wrong.
- One word for a species: Ficus alone names only the genus.
- Naming before identifying. First find out whether the organism is already known.
- Mixing up the codes. ICN for plants, algae and fungi; ICZN for animals.
Check yourself
- In Ficus religiosa, the peepal, which word is the specific epithet?
- What does a botanist do in characterisation?
- Why is "sea cucumber" a misleading name?
- Which word of a scientific name tells you the organism's close relatives?
Discussion (0)
Log in to join the discussion.
Loading…