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Binomial nomenclature (also called binominal nomenclature or binary nomenclature) is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages. Such a name is called a binomial name (which may be shortened to just "binomial"), a binomen or a scientific name; more informally it is also called a Latin name. The first part of the name identifies the genus to which the species belongs; the second part identifies the species within the genus. For example, humans belong to the genus Homo and within this genus to the species Homo sapiens. The formal introduction of this system of naming species is credited to Swedish natural scientist Carl Linnaeus, effectively beginning with his work Species Plantarum in 1753.
The application of binomial nomenclature is now governed by various internationally agreed codes of rules, of which the two most important are the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) for plants. Although the general principles underlying binomial nomenclature are common to these two codes, there are some differences, both in the terminology they use and in their precise rules.
In modern usage, the first letter of the first part of the name, the genus, is always capitalized in writing, while that of the second part is not, even when derived from a proper noun such as the name of a person or place. Similarly, both parts are italicized when a binomial name occurs in normal text. Thus the binomial name of the annual phlox (named after botanist Thomas Drummond) is now written as Phlox drummondii.
In scientific works, the "authority" for a binomial name is usually given, at least when it is first mentioned, and the date of publication may be specified.
" Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758". The name "Linnaeus" tells the reader who it was that first published a description and name for this species of sea snail; 1758 is the date of the publication in which the original description can be found (in this case the 10th edition of the book Systema Naturae).
"Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758)". The original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica; the ICZN does not require that the name of the person who changed the genus be given, nor the date on which the change was made.
" Amaranthus retroflexus L." – "L." is the standard abbreviation used in botany for "Linnaeus".
" Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm. – Linnaeus first named this bluebell species Scilla italica; Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides; the ICN does not require that the dates of either publication be specified.
Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778), a Swedish botanist, invented the modern system of binomial nomenclature.
Prior to the adoption of the modern binomial system of naming species, a scientific name consisted of a generic name combined with a specific name that was from one to several words long. Together they formed a system of polynomial nomenclature. These names had two separate functions. First, to designate or label the species, and second, to be a diagnosis or description; however these two goals were eventually found to be incompatible. In a simple genus, containing only two species, it was easy to tell them apart with a one-word genus and a one-word specific name; but as more species were discovered the names necessarily became longer and unwieldy, for instance Plantago foliis ovato-lanceolatus pubescentibus, spica cylindrica, scapo tereti (Plantain with pubescent ovate-lanceolate leaves, a cylindric spike and a terete scape), which we know today as Plantago media.
Such "polynomial names" may sometimes look like binomials, but are significantly different. For example, Gerard's herbal describes various kinds of spiderwort: "The first is called phalangium ramosum, Branched Spiderwort; the second, phalangium non ramosum, Unbranched Spiderwort. The other ... is aptly termed phalangium ephemerum virginianum, Soone Fading Spiderwort of Virginia". The Latin phrases are short descriptions, rather than identifying labels.
The Bauhins, in particular Caspar Bauhin (1560–1624), took some important steps towards the binomial system, by pruning the Latin descriptions, in many cases to two words. The adoption by biologists of a system of strictly binomial nomenclature is due to Swedish botanist and physician Carl von Linné, more commonly known by his Latinized name Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778). It was in his 1753 Species Plantarum that he first began consistently using a one-word "trivial name" together with a generic name in a system of binomial nomenclature. This trivial name is what is now known as a specific epithet (ICN) or specific name (ICZN). The Bauhins' genus names were retained in many of these, but the descriptive part was reduced to a single word.
Linnaeus's trivial names introduced an important new idea, namely that the function of a name could simply be to give a species a unique label. This meant that the name no longer need be descriptive; for example both parts could be derived from the names of people. Thus Gerard's phalangium ephemerum virginianum became Tradescantia virginiana, where the genus name honoured John Tradescant the younger, an English botanist and gardener. A bird in the parrot family was named Psittacus alexandri, meaning "Alexander's parrot", after Alexander the Great whose armies introduced eastern parakeets to Greece. Linnaeus' trivial names were much easier to remember and use than the parallel polynomial names and eventually replaced them.
Widespread use. The binomial system of nomenclature is governed by international codes and is used by biologists worldwide.
Clarity. Binomial names avoid the confusion that can be created when attempting to use common names to refer to a species. Common names often differ from one country to another, or even from one part of a country to another. In English-speaking parts of Europe, the bird called a "robin" is Erithacus rubecula. In English-speaking North America, a "robin" is Turdus migratorius. In contrast, the scientific name can be used all over the world, in all languages, avoiding confusion and difficulties of translation.
Uniqueness. Provided that taxonomists agree as to the limits of a species, it can have only one name that is correct under the appropriate nomenclature code, generally the earliest published if two or more names are accidentally assigned to a species. However, establishing that two names actually refer to the same species and then determining which has priority can be difficult, particularly if the species was named by biologists from different countries. Therefore a species may have more than one regularly used name; these names are " synonyms".
Stability. Although stability is far from absolute, the procedures associated with establishing binomial names tend to favour stability. For example, when species are transferred between genera (as not uncommonly happens as a result of new knowledge), if possible the second part of the binomial is kept the same. Thus there is disagreement among botanists as to whether the genera Chionodoxa and Scilla are sufficiently different to be kept separate. Those who keep them separate give the plant commonly grown in gardens in Europe the name Chionodoxa siehei; those who do not give it the name Scilla siehei. The siehei element is constant. Similarly if what were previously thought to be two distinct species are demoted to a lower rank, such as subspecies, where possible the second part of the binomial name is retained as the third part of the new name. Thus the Tenerife robin may be treated as a different species from the European robin, in which case its name is Erithacus superbus, or as only a subspecies, in which case its name is Erithacus rubecula superbus. The superbus element of the name is constant. Since taxonomists can legitimately disagree as to whether two genera or two species are distinct or not, more than one name can be in use.
Nomenclature (including binomial nomenclature) is not the same as classification, although the two are related. Classification is the ordering of items into groups based on similarities and/or differences; in biological classification, species are one of the kinds of item to be classified. In principle, the names given to species could be completely independent of their classification. This is not the case for binomial names, since the first part of a binomial is the name of the genus into which the species is placed. Above the rank of genus, binomial nomenclature and classification are partly independent; for example, a species retains its binomial name if it is moved from one family to another or from one order to another, unless it better fits a different genus in the same or different family, or it is split from its old genus and placed in a newly created genus. The independence is only partial since the names of families and other higher taxa are usually based on genera.
Taxonomy includes both nomenclature and classification. Its first stages (sometimes called " alpha taxonomy") are concerned with finding, describing and naming species of living or fossil organisms. Binomial nomenclature is thus an important part of taxonomy as it is the system by which species are named. Taxonomists are also concerned with classification, including its principles, procedures and rules.
Latin, either classical or medieval. Thus both parts of the binomial name Homo sapiens are Latin words, meaning "wise" (sapiens) "human/man" (Homo).
Classical Greek. The genus Rhododendron was named by Linnaeus from the Greek word ῥοδόδενδρον, itself derived from rhodos, rose, and dendron, tree. Greek words are often converted to a Latinized form. Thus coca (the plant from which cocaine is obtained) has the name Erythroxylum coca. Erythroxylum is derived from the Greek words erythros, red, and xylon, wood. The Greek neuter ending -ον (-on) is often converted to the Latin neuter ending -um.
Other languages. The second part of the name Erythroxylum coca is derived from the name of the plant in the Quechua language. Since many dinosaur fossils were found in Mongolia, their names often use Mongolian words, e.g. Tarchia from tarkhi, meaning "brain", or Saichania meaning "beautiful one".
Names of places. The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum is widespread in the United States.
The second part of the name, which identifies the species within the genus, is also treated grammatically as a Latin word. It can have one of a number of forms.
The second part of a binomial may be an adjective. The adjective must agree with the genus name in gender. Latin has three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter, shown by varying endings to nouns and adjectives. The house sparrow has the binomial name Passer domesticus. Here domesticus ("domestic") simply means "associated with the house". The sacred bamboo is Nandina domestica rather than Nandina domesticus, since Nandina is feminine whereas Passer is masculine. The tropical fruit langsat is a product of the plant Lansium domesticum, since Lansium is neuter. Some common endings for Latin adjectives in the three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) are -us, -a, -um (as in the previous example of domesticus); -is, -is, -e (e.g. tristis, meaning "sad"); and -or, -or, -us (e.g. minor, meaning "smaller"). For further information, see Latin declension: Adjectives.
The second part of a binomial may be a noun in the genitive (possessive) case. The genitive case is constructed in a number of ways in Latin, depending on the declension of the noun. Common endings for masculine and neuter nouns are -ii or -i in the singular and -orum in the plural, and for feminine nouns -ae in the singular and -arum in the plural. The noun may be part of a person's name, often the surname, as in the Tibetan antelope Pantholops hodgsonii, the shrub Magnolia hodgsonii, or the Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni. The meaning is "of the person named", so that Magnolia hodgsonii means "Hodgson's magnolia". The -ii or -i endings show that in each case Hodgson was a man (not the same one); had Hodgson been a woman, hodgsonae would have been used. The person commemorated in the binomial name is not usually (if ever) the person who created the name; for example Anthus hodgsoni was named by Charles Wallace Richmond, in honour of Hodgson. Rather than a person, the noun may be related to a place, as with Latimeria chalumnae, meaning "of the Chalumna River". Another use of genitive nouns is in, for example, the name of the bacterium Escherichia coli, where coli means "of the colon". This formation is common in parasites, as in Xenos vesparum, where vesparum means "of the wasps", since Xenos vesparum is a parasite of wasps.
Both codes consider the first part of the two-part name for a species to be the "genus name". In zoological code (ICZN), the second part of the name is a "specific name", or in the botanical code (ICN) a "specific epithet". Together, these two parts are referred to as a "species name" or "binomen" in the zoological code; or "species name", "specific name", or a "binary combination" in the botanical code.
The ICN, the plant Code, does not allow the two parts of a binomial name to be the same (such a name is called a tautonym), whereas the ICZN, the animal Code, does. Thus the American bison has the binomial Bison bison; a name of this kind would not be allowed for a plant.
By tradition, the binomial names of species are usually typeset in italics; for example, Homo sapiens. Generally the binomial should be printed in a font different from that used in the normal text; for example, "Several more Homo sapiens fossils were discovered." When handwritten, each part of a binomial name should be underlined; for example, Homo sapiens.
The first part of the binomial, the genus name, is always written with an initial capital letter. In current usage, the second part is never written with an initial capital. Older sources, particularly botanical works published before the 1950s, use a different convention. If the second part of the name is 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.
When used with a common name, the scientific name often follows in parentheses, although this varies with publication. For example "The house sparrow (Passer domesticus) is decreasing in Europe."
The abbreviation " cf." is used when the identification is not confirmed. For example "Corvus cf. splendens" indicates "a bird similar to the house crow but not certainly identified as this species".
In scholarly texts, at least the first or main use of the binomial name is usually followed by the "authority" – a way of designating the scientist(s) who first published the name. The authority is written in slightly different ways in zoology and botany: under the ICZN the surname is written in full together with the date (usually only the year) of publication, whereas under the ICN the name is generally abbreviated and the date omitted. The International Plant Names Index maintains an approved list of botanical author abbreviations. Historically, abbreviations were used in zoology too.
(plant) Hyacinthoides italica (L.) Rothm. – Linnaeus first named the Italian bluebell Scilla italica; Rothmaler transferred it to the genus Hyacinthoides.
(animal) Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) – the original name given by Linnaeus was Fringilla domestica; unlike the ICN, the ICZN does not require the name of the person who changed the genus to be given.
Binomial nomenclature, as described here, is a system for naming species. Implicitly it includes a system for naming genera, since the first part of the name of the species is a genus name. In a classification system based on ranks there are also ways of naming ranks above the level of genus and below the level of species. Ranks above genus (e.g. family, order, class) receive one part names which are conventionally not written in italics. Thus the house sparrow, Passer domesticus, belongs to the family Passeridae. Family names are normally based on genus names, although the endings used differ between zoology and botany.
Ranks below species receive three part names, conventionally written in italics like the names of species. There are significant differences between the ICZN and the ICN. In zoology, the only rank below species is subspecies and the name is written simply as three parts (a trinomen). Thus one of the subspecies of the olive-backed pipit is Anthus hodgsoni berezowskii. In botany, there are many ranks below species and although the name itself is written in three parts, a "connecting term" (not part of the name) is needed to show the rank. Thus the American black elder is Sambucus nigra subsp. canadensis; the white-flowered form of the ivy-leaved cyclamen is Cyclamen hederifolium f. albiflorum.
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