Question

Write a short note on binomial nomenclature with examples.

Answer 1

Short note on binomial nomenclature.

1. The binomial nomenclature was first developed and used in naming plants and animals by Carolus Linnaeus of Sweden in his book titled “Species Plantarum”.
2. According to binomial nomenclature, every organism is given two proper names.
3. The first name is the Genus to which an organism belongs. The genus name can be shared among other closely related organisms. It is always written first and starts with a capital letter.
4. The second name is the species name to which an organism belongs. The species name cannot be shared with any other organism in that particular genus. It is always written second and starts with a small letter.
5. Both names of an individual are printed in italics. When hand-written, both the names are separately underlined.
6. Examples - The scientific name of the tiger is presented as Panthera tigris. 'Panthera' represents the genus and 'Tigris' represents a particular species or specific epithet. The scientific name of humans is written as Homo sapiens. 'Homo' represents the genus and 'sapiens' represents a particular species or specific epithet.