Editing Binomial nomenclature (section)

== Writing binomial names ==
By tradition, the binomial names of species are usually typeset in italics; for example, ''[[Homo sapiens]]''.<ref name="howto">{{cite journal |title=How to Write Scientific Names of Organisms |journal=Competition Science Vision |url=http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2001/oct2001/howto.pdf |access-date=20 June 2011 |archive-date=4 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704203742/http://www.journal.au.edu/au_techno/2001/oct2001/howto.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> Generally, the binomial should be printed in a [[font|font style]] different from that used in the normal text; for example, "''Several more ''Homo sapiens'' fossils were discovered''." When handwritten, a binomial name should be underlined; for example, <u>Homo</u> <u>sapiens</u>.<ref name="tan">{{cite web |url=http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl43.htm |title=Understanding and Learning Scientific Names of Species |last1=Tan |first1=Hugh T.W. |last2=Tan |first2=Kai-xin |publisher=Successful Learning, Center for Development of Teaching and Learning, National University of Singapore |work=CDTL.NUS.edu.sg |access-date=20 June 2011 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721013443/http://www.cdtl.nus.edu.sg/success/sl43.htm |url-status=live}}</ref>

The first part of the binomial, the genus name, is always written with an initial capital letter. Older sources, particularly botanical works published before the 1950s, used a different convention: if the second part of the name was derived from a proper noun, e.g., the name of a person or place, a capital letter was used. Thus, the modern form ''Berberis darwinii'' was written as ''Berberis Darwinii''. A capital was also used when the name is formed by two nouns in apposition, e.g., ''Panthera Leo'' or ''Centaurea Cyanus''.{{sfn|Johnson|Smith|1972|p=23}}{{NoteTag|The modern notation was resisted by some, partly because writing names like ''Centaurea cyanus'' can suggest that ''cyanus'' is an adjective which should agree with ''Centaurea'', i.e. that the name should be ''Centaurea cyana'', whereas ''Cyanus'' is derived from the Greek name for the cornflower.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gilbert-Carter |first=H. |date=1955 |title=Glossary of the British Flora |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |oclc=559413416 |page=xix}}</ref>}} In current usage, the second part is never written with an initial capital.<ref>{{cite book |last=Silyn-Roberts |first=Heather |date=2000 |title=Writing for Science and Engineering: Papers, Presentations and Reports |location=Oxford; Boston |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |isbn=978-0-7506-4636-9 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=hVUU7Gq8QskC&pg=PA198 198]}}</ref><ref>[[#ICN2012|McNeill et al. 2012]], Recommendation 60F</ref>

When used with a common name, the scientific name often follows in parentheses, although this varies with publication.<ref name="parenth">{{cite book |url=http://www.gse.mq.edu.au/resources/guide/format.htm |title=Writing Guide: Language, Words and Format |location=Sydney, NSW |publisher=Macquarie University |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629140234/http://www.gse.mq.edu.au/resources/guide/format.htm}}</ref> For example, "The house sparrow (''Passer domesticus'') is decreasing in Europe."

The binomial name should generally be written in full. The exception to this is when several species from the same genus are being listed or discussed in the same paper or report, or the same species is mentioned repeatedly; in which case the genus is written in full when it is first used, but may then be abbreviated to an initial (and a period/full stop).<ref name="merriamwebster">{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |chapter=Linnaean Nomenclature of Plants, Animals, & Bacteria |date=2003 |page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersc00merr_6/page/22 22a&nbsp;– 23a] |isbn=978-0-87779-809-5 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TAnheeIPcAEC&pg=PP28 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersc00merr_6/page/22}}</ref> For example, a list of members of the genus ''Canis'' might be written as "''Canis lupus'', ''C. aureus'', ''C. simensis''". In rare cases, this abbreviated form has spread to more general use; for example, the bacterium ''[[Escherichia coli]]'' is often referred to as just ''E. coli'', and ''[[Tyrannosaurus|Tyrannosaurus rex]]'' is perhaps even better known simply as ''T. rex'', these two both often appearing in this form in popular writing even where the full genus name has not already been given.

The abbreviation "sp." is used when the actual specific name cannot or need not be specified. The abbreviation "spp." (plural) indicates "several species". These abbreviations are not italicised (or underlined).<ref name="Springer: PKR and VD Nair">{{cite book |last1=Nair |first1=P. K. Ramachandran |author-link1=P. K. Ramachandran Nair |last2=Nair |first2=Vimala D. |date=2014 |title=Scientific Writing and Communication in Agriculture and Natural Resources |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Uxm4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer International Publishing]] |page=39 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-03101-9 |isbn=978-3-319-03101-9 |s2cid=11811479 |lccn=2013953625 |oclc=881314963 |access-date=20 March 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328005811/https://books.google.com/books?id=Uxm4BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA39 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="jenks">{{cite web |url=http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/courses/hort217/Nomenclature/description.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121211140110/http://www.hort.purdue.edu/hort/courses/hort217/Nomenclature/description.htm |archive-date=11 December 2012 |title=Plant Nomenclature |first=Matthew A. |last=Jenks |publisher=Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University |work=Hort.Purdue.edu |access-date=20 June 2011}}</ref> For example: "''Canis'' sp." means "an unspecified species of the genus ''[[Canis]]''", while "''Canis'' spp." means "two or more species of the genus ''Canis''". (These abbreviations should not be confused with the abbreviations "ssp." (zoology) or "subsp." (botany), plurals "sspp." or "subspp.", referring to one or more [[subspecies]]. See [[trinomen]] (zoology) and [[infraspecific name]].)

The abbreviation "[[cf.]]" (i.e., ''confer'' in Latin) is used to compare individuals/taxa with known/described species. Conventions for use of the "cf." qualifier vary.<ref name="clowes">{{cite web |url=http://www.peripatus.gen.nz/biology/priTaxonomy.html |title=Taxonomy&nbsp;– A Primer |first=Chris |last=Clowes |work=Peripatus.Gen.nz |access-date=20 June 2011 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807091803/https://www.peripatus.gen.nz/biology/priTaxonomy.html}}</ref> In paleontology, it is typically used when the identification is not confirmed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bengtson |first=P. |date=1988 |title=Open nomenclature |journal=Palaeontology |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=223–227 |url=http://www.palass-pubs.org/palaeontology/pdf/Vol31/Pages%20223-227.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006071437/http://www.palass-pubs.org/palaeontology/pdf/Vol31/Pages%20223-227.pdf |archive-date=6 October 2014 |url-status=usurped |access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> For example, "''Corvus'' cf. ''nasicus''" was used to indicate "a fossil bird similar to the [[Cuban crow]] but not certainly identified as this species".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Orihuela |first=J. |date=2013 |url=http://birdscaribbean.org/jco/index.php/jco/article/view/32 |title=Fossil Cuban crow ''Corvus'' cf. ''nasicus'' from a late Quaternary cave deposit in northern Matanzas, Cuba |journal=Journal of Caribbean Ornithology |volume=26 |pages=12–16 |access-date=22 August 2014 |archive-date=27 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127004555/http://birdscaribbean.org/jco/index.php/jco/article/view/32 |url-status=live}}</ref> In molecular systematics papers, "cf." may be used to indicate one or more undescribed species assumed to be related to a described species. For example, in a paper describing the phylogeny of small benthic freshwater fish called darters, five undescribed putative species (Ozark, Sheltowee, Wildcat, Ihiyo, and Mamequit darters), notable for brightly colored nuptial males with distinctive color patterns,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Page |first1=L. M. |last2=Burr |first2=B. M. |date=1991 |title=Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico |url=https://archive.org/details/fieldguidetofres00lawr |url-access=registration |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=978-0-547-24206-4 |at=plate 52}}</ref> were referred to as "''Etheostoma'' cf. ''spectabile''" because they had been viewed as related to, but distinct from, ''Etheostoma spectabile'' (orangethroat darter).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Near |first1=T. J. |last2=Bossu |first2=C. M. |last3=Bradburd |first3=G. S. |last4=Carlson |first4=R. L. |last5=Harrington |first5=R. C. |last6=Hollingsworth |first6=P. R. |last7=Keck |first7=B. P. |last8=Etnier |first8=D. A. |date=2011 |title=Phylogeny and temporal diversification of darters (Percidae: Etheostomatinae) |journal=Systematic Biology |volume=60 |issue=5 |pages=565–595 |doi=10.1093/sysbio/syr052 |doi-access=free |pmid=21775340}}</ref> This view was supported to varying degrees by DNA analysis. The somewhat informal use of taxa names with qualifying abbreviations is referred to as [[open nomenclature]] and it is not subject to strict usage codes.

In some contexts, the dagger symbol ("†") may be used before or after the binomial name to indicate that the species is extinct.

{{anchor|Authority}}

=== Authority ===
{{main|Author citation (zoology)|Author citation (botany)}}

In scholarly texts, at least the first or main use of the binomial name is usually followed by the "authority"&nbsp;– a way of designating the scientist(s) who first published the name. The authority is written in slightly different ways in zoology and botany. For names governed by the ''ICZN'' the surname is usually written in full together with the date (normally only the year) of publication. One example of author citation of scientific name is: "[[Amabela|''Amabela'' Möschler, 1880]]."{{NoteTag|Here Amabela is the name of the [[genus]]. It is written in italic form. Followed by the last name of the scientist who discovered it (Heinrich Benno '''Möschler'''), a comma, and the year when it was published.}} The ''ICZN'' recommends that the "original author and date of a name should be cited at least once in each work dealing with the taxon denoted by that name."{{sfn|International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature |1999|loc=Recommendation 51a}} For names governed by the ''ICNafp'' the name is generally reduced to a standard abbreviation and the date omitted. The [[International Plant Names Index]] maintains an approved list of botanical author abbreviations. Historically, abbreviations were used in zoology too.

When the original name is changed, e.g., the species is moved to a different genus, both codes use parentheses around the original authority; the ''ICNafp'' also requires the person who made the change to be given. In the ''ICNafp'', the original name is then called the [[basionym]]. Some examples:
* (Plant) ''[[Amaranthus retroflexus]]'' L.&nbsp;– "L." is the standard abbreviation for "Linnaeus"; the absence of parentheses shows that this is his original name.
* (Plant) ''[[Hyacinthoides italica]]'' (L.) Rothm.&nbsp;– Linnaeus first named the Italian bluebell ''Scilla italica''; that is the basionym. [[Werner Hugo Paul Rothmaler|Rothmaler]] later transferred it to the genus ''Hyacinthoides''.
* (Animal) ''[[Passer domesticus]]'' (Linnaeus, 1758)&nbsp;– the original name given by Linnaeus was ''Fringilla domestica''; unlike the ''ICNafp'', the ''ICZN'' does not require the name of the person who changed the genus ([[Mathurin Jacques Brisson]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Summers-Smith |first=J. Denis |title=The Sparrows |publisher=T. & A. D. Poyser |date=1988 |location=Calton, Staffordshire, England |isbn=978-0-85661-048-6 |others=illustrated by Robert Gillmor |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/sparrowsstudyofg0000summ |pages=114–115}}</ref>) to be given.