[PDF] Setting scientific names at all taxonomic ranks in italics facilitates

Are there any species that have the same scientific name?

These naming rules mean that every scientific name is unique. For example, if bluegill sunfish are given the scientific name Lepomis macrochirus, no other animal species can be given the same name.

Why do scientists name species?

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.

What is the properly written scientific name for species?

Scientific names may be abbreviated by writing the first letter of the genus, followed by the species name, such as burgdorferi. For titles and headers , which may already be italicized, it is appropriate to spell out the entire scientific name, without abbreviating it, in capital letters, or to leave it unitalicized.

What does the scientific name of species consist of?

The scientific name of each species is made up of a generic name (generic epithet) and a specific name (specific epithet). In our bluegill sunfish example the generic epithet is Lepomis and the specific epithet is macrochirus. The generic epithet is the name of the genus (singular of genera) to which bluegill sunfish belong, the genus Lepomis.