Question

Which of the following statements is incorrect with respect to the universal rules of nomenclature?

• A. The first word in a biological name, represents the genus.
• B. The first word denoting the genus starts with a capital letter.
• C. Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined.
• D. Biological names are all in Greek and written in italics.
• E. The second component in a biological name denotes the species name.

Answer 1

The correct option is D Biological names are all in Greek and written in italics.

Rules of biological nomenclature are:

(1) Biological name is generally in Latin language and written in italics.

(2) The biological name consists of two words. The first word starts with a capital letter and represents the genus name and the second word starts with a small letter and represents the species name.

(3) Biological name when handwritten, should be underlined. Both the genus name and the species name are separately underlined.

For example, the biological name of the pea plant is Pisum sativum.