What Are Scientific Names? Meaning, Uses, And Examples

SCIENTIFIC NAMES – In this topic, we are going to know about scientific names, its meaning, uses, and example.

Meaning

In science, you will always notice that the plants and animals have other names than their common names. We normally call them scientific names. What we do not know is that they are named using a species-naming system called binomial nomenclature.

According to Byju’s, this is a widely used, formal system of naming a certain species. It consists of two names that are usually in Latin but there are those that came from other languages as well. The two names are:

Generic name
- The initial name that highlights the genus which the organism belongs to. It is always capitalized and italicized.
Specific name
- This identifies the exact species the organism falls under. the name is in lowercase and also italicized.

Uses

Classification and organisation
- These are comprehensively organized which makes understanding and studying characteristics of particular organisms easy and organized.
Precision and clarity
- These are so unique that identifying organisms won’t lead to confusion.
The binomial names (other term for scientific names) are universally recognized and standardized
These are retained even if the species are transferred to another genus on the basis of new knowledge
Aids in understanding the similarities and differences between various species that belong to the same genera.

Examples