Common name and Scientific name (in cc amphib glossary)

basic defs. here.

Common Name: Names that vary between languages used to describe a particular species of animal such as eastern newt. Capitalization of common names is not required.

Scientific Name: A pair of words that refers to a particular animal species. These names are agreed upon by international bodies of scientists and are used in multiple languages. Proper use of scientific names includes using a different font (generally italics) and that the first word of the pair (the genus name) is capitalized while the second word (the species name) is not. Subspecies names are also not capitalized. After a scientific name has been used once in a piece of writing it is acceptable to shorten it by using the initial of the genus (and the species name in the cause of subspecies.) i.e. Cynops orientalis shortens to C. orientalis and Salamandra salamandra salamandra shortens to S. s. salamandra.

Scientific names are also refered to as Latin names, binomial, binomial name, binominal, binominal name, and species name.

Taxon: A name for a taxonomic group the plural of which is taxa. Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species are the main taxa from highest and broadest to lowest and narrowest. These may also be modified by the prefixes super-, sub- and infra- which denote a rank above the taxa, beneath the taxa and beneath the subtaxa respectively.

Common Name: General use name for an animal, often varies regionally for the same animal.
Example: red eft

Scientific name: Usually two to three words denoting Genus, Species, and Sub-species consisting of Latin and Greek words. Subspecies names are often common words modified to sound Latin. Also refered to as "latin name"
Example: Cynops ensicauda popei

Taxon: a group of organisms juged to be [phylogenetically] related

Taxonomy: The science of classification

Common Name: Names that vary between languages or geographical areas used to describe a particular species or subspecies of an animal such as eastern newt or barred tiger salamander, respectively. Capitalization of common names is not required.

Scientific Name: A pair of words that refers to a particular animal species. These names are agreed upon by international bodies of scientists and are used in multiple languages. Proper writing of scientific names includes using a different font (italics) and the first word of the pair (the genus name) is capitalized while the second word (the species name) is not. Subspecies names are also not capitalized. After a scientific name has been used once in a piece of writing it is acceptable to shorten it by using the initial of the genus (and the species name in the cause of subspecies.) i.e., Cynops orientalis shortens to C. orientalis and Salamandra salamandra salamandra shortens to S. s. salamandra. Scientific names are also refered to as Latin names, binomial, binomial name, binominal, binominal name, and species name.


Delete Taxon definition in this thread as it has been defined elsewhere in the glossary.