Editing Genus (section)

==Numbers of accepted genera==
The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of a total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rees |first1=Tony |last2=Vandepitte |first2=Leen |last3=Vanhoorne |first3=Bart |last4=Decock |first4=Wim |title=All genera of the world: an overview and estimates based on the March 2020 release of the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) |journal=Megataxa |volume=1 |pages=123–140 |year=2020 |issue=2 |url=https://www.mapress.com/j/mt/article/view/megataxa.1.2.3/39250 |doi=10.11646/megataxa.1.2.3 |doi-access=free |access-date=2020-04-02 |archive-date=2021-03-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210322091308/https://www.mapress.com/j/mt/article/view/megataxa.1.2.3/39250 |url-status=live }}</ref> "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses<ref name = "ICTV" /> and prokaryotes,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bacterio.net/|title=LPSN - List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature|website= bacterio.net|access-date=2018-06-01|archive-date=2022-04-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401092957/https://www.bacterio.net/|url-status=live}}</ref> while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as ''[[Index Fungorum]]'' for fungi,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indexfungorum.org/|title=Index Fungorum Home Page|website= indexfungorum.org|access-date=2018-06-01|archive-date=2015-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205221807/http://www.indexfungorum.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Index Nominum Algarum''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/ina/|title=Index Nominum Algarum: names of algae|website=Jepson Herbarium - University of California, Berkeley |access-date=2020-09-06|archive-date=2020-08-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807001456/https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/ina/|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[AlgaeBase]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.algaebase.org/|title=Algaebase :: Listing the World's Algae|website=algaebase.org|access-date=2020-09-06|archive-date=2020-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200829085615/https://www.algaebase.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> for algae, ''Index Nominum Genericorum''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://naturalhistory2.si.edu/botany/ing/|title=Index Nominum Genericorum (ING), Botany |website=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History |access-date=2019-06-07|archive-date=2016-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234638/http://botany.si.edu/ing/INGsearch.cfm?SearchWord=eggersia|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[International Plant Names Index]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ipni.org/|title=International Plant Names Index|website= ipni.org|access-date=2020-09-06|archive-date=2020-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502112641/https://www.ipni.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and ''[[Nomenclator Zoologicus]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus/|title=Nomenclator Zoologicus|website=uBio |access-date=2018-02-24|archive-date=2021-12-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223191732/http://ubio.org/NomenclatorZoologicus/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[Index to Organism Names]] for zoological names.

Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the ''[[Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera]]'' (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom:
[[File:Estimated accepted genus totals by kingdom - based on Rees et al 2020.jpg|thumb|Estimated accepted genus totals by kingdom - based on Rees et al., 2020]]
* [[Animal]]ia: 239,093 accepted genus names (± 55,350)
* [[Plant]]ae: 28,724 (± 7,721)
* [[Fungus|Fungi]]: 10,468 (± 182)
* [[Chromista]]: 11,114 (± 1,268)
* [[Protozoa]]: 3,109 (± 1,206)
* [[Bacteria]]: 3,433 (± 115)
* [[Archaea]]: 140 (± 0)
* [[Virus]]es: 851 (± 0)

The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names; the values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes.

Within Animalia, the largest phylum is [[Arthropod]]a, with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are [[insect]]s (class Insecta). Within Plantae, [[Tracheophyta]] (vascular plants) make up the largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are [[angiosperms]] (superclass Angiospermae).

By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the [[Catalogue of Life]] (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently{{When|date=August 2023}} 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2018/info/ac|title= 2018 Annual Checklist|website=Catalogue of Life |access-date=2018-07-07|archive-date=2020-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111212241/http://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2018/info/ac|url-status=live}}</ref> also including genus names only (no species) for some groups.