Scientific names are used to describe various species of organisms in a way that is universal so that scientists around the globe can readily identify the same animal. This is called binomial nomenclature, and many of the scientific names are derived from the Latin name of the organism. The scientific name is broken down into the genus name, which comes first, followed by the specific species name.
The use of scientific names eliminates confusion between nationalities that may have different common names for organisms by assigning them a universal name that acts as a code. Scientists from one nation can converse with scientists from another about a specific organism with the aid of the scientific name, avoiding confusion that may arise from differing common names.