Why binomial nomenclature is important

Hence, to make things easier, a binomial system of nomenclature was introduced soon after. The binomial nomenclature system was given by Carolus Linnaeus , a Swedish naturalist. Carolus Linnaeus used this nomenclature system for the first time on a large scale and proposed the scientific names of many plants and animals.

He first employed this system in his book Species Plantarum which was published in the year Linnaeus proposed the scientific names of plants in his book Species Plantarum which was published on 1 May So this was the initiation of a binomial system for plants Note: any name proposed for plants before this date is not accepted today.

Linnaeus proposed the scientific names of animals in his book Systema Naturae 10th edition. It was published on 1 August So initiation of a binomial system for animals is believed to have started then.

According to this system, the name of a plant or animal is composed of two Latin or Latinised words. They are derived from Latin irrespective of their origin. For example,. Each name has two components, the generic name , and the specific epithet. The first word indicates the name of the genus also called generic name.

The second word denotes the name of the species also called specific epithet. The generic name always begins with a capital letter and the specific name with a small letter. The generic and specific names always have some meaning. They are based on some special characters of the plant and animals, or the name of any scientist or on some legend. Usually, the name of the author , who names the organism, is also written in full or in abbreviated form after the specific name.

The name of the scientist should be neither underlined nor in italics , but written in Roman letters simple alphabets. Thus, in the case of Mangifera indica L. Sometimes a single species is described under different names by different authors. It is formerly known as the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. These governing systems or codes operate independently of one another. Because of this, they could use generic names for animals that are already in use for plants.

Thus, there are instances when the genus of a plant is encountered in animals although the two species are obviously unrelated phylogenetically. Tautonym, where the generic name and the specific name are the same, is not allowed in ICNafp. However, it is permitted in ICZN. The main objective of these codes is to provide a name that can be consistently used for a species that is perceptible.

Animals, for example, that are within the confines of mythology will, therefore, fail to meet the criteria of being given a scientific name. An example is Yucca filamentosa , a plant of the Yucca genus and the unique filamentosa species. The genus name begins in capital letter whereas the specific epithet, in small letter. The genus may also be written by abbreviating it to its initial letter. For instance, based on the previous example, Yucca filamentosa abbreviated to Y.

The name given to a particular species is called a binomial name or scientific name. For human species to obviate extinction, reproductive mature adults should be producing viable offspring in order to con..

A still body of water may be disturbed by a variety of factors. One of them is wind. In fact, it is considered as the pr.. With regard to the population size of a species and what factors may affect them, two factors have been defined. They ar.. A running water environment offers numerous microhabitats for many types of animals. Similar to plants, animals in lotic..

Plant cells have plastids essential in photosynthesis. They may also contain references to regions where the species are found, such as southern right whales , Eubalaena australis , which translates to "southern true-baleen. Unlike scientific names, common names are not unique.

As a result, common name usage can lead to confusion about what animal is being referred to and what their relationships are to other animals.

An example are "badgers. Although they are all called "badgers" and they are all members of the same mammalian family, they are not each other's closest relatives. There are many examples of confusing and redundant common names, just remember that you can't rely on the common name to tell you anything about the animal's evolutionary history. Taxonomy, the science and process of naming living organisms, is a field that is constantly changing.

When our scientific understanding of animal species and their relationships changes, it may mean that scientific names change as well. For example, all small cat species were once included in the genus Felis. They have since been split into multiple genera in order to better represent important evolutionary differences among them. Bobcats were once known by the scientific name, Felis rufus , this name has since been changed to Lynx rufus. Unfortunately, older scientific literature on bobcats will still be found under Felis rufus and some sources may not recognize the name change right away.

Some species have come to be known by multiple scientific names. In such cases one name is chosen for the species and the other names are referred to as "synonyms" of the species name. For example, all bats in the genus Lasiurus were once also known by the generic name Nycteris. So Lasiurus borealis would have also been known as Nycteris borealis. The valid, currently recognized name is Lasiurus borealis and Nycteris borealis is considered a synonym.