Question

Which of the following is true about Binomial Nomenclature?

• A. This system was developed so that an organism has the same standard name used anywhere across the world
• B. Each scientific name includes two parts - the family name and the generic name
• C. Only the first word of the name should be italicised when typed
• D. The first component of a scientific name is capitalised, while the second one is not

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (D)

The correct options are
A This system was developed so that an organism has the same standard name used anywhere across the world
D The first component of a scientific name is capitalised, while the second one is not

The system of providing a name with two components is called binomial nomenclature, as given by Carl Linnaeus. One of the main objectives of developing such a system was to avoid confusion created by vernacular names of organisms. In this system, every organism would have the same standard name used anywhere in the world. Each name has two components - a generic name and a specific epithet. When typed, both the components of the name are italicised, with the first one capitalized as well.