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Binomial nomenclature, query...


thegardener
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Been having a discussion about this with someone and can’t seem to settle on a right answer. 
 

If we take the genus Quercus, and then add the specific epithet, say, rubra, is it these two identifying names together that form the ‘species’?
 

This is how I’ve always understood it.BD1AD4CF-F8AD-4CC4-973B-42077827FFC0.thumb.jpeg.e800c64a12bb6c839fb55d16e5c55d13.jpeg 

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21 minutes ago, thegardener said:

 

Been having a discussion about this with someone and can’t seem to settle on a right answer. 
 

If we take the genus Quercus, and then add the specific epithet, say, rubra, is it these two identifying names together that form the ‘species’?
 

This is how I’ve always understood it.BD1AD4CF-F8AD-4CC4-973B-42077827FFC0.thumb.jpeg.e800c64a12bb6c839fb55d16e5c55d13.jpeg 

Genus = Quecus   Species = rubra

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The gift of taxonomy is a marvellous thing!  
The species only relates to the particular genus that comes before it.  It can’t differentiate between all the species on the planet  -  just those within the Oak grouping, if using the example above.  

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Hence to determine species we rely on both the genus and specific epithet to be present. Specific epithet alone says nothing unless the genus proceeds it. 
 

the first two paragraphs below highlight the point I’m making. 

C709AF02-ADE4-4BA5-8F36-0EC323697203.jpeg

Edited by thegardener
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Gets even more complicated when you discover that two separate species can have the same 'Latin' name.

 

Ficus elegans is both a fig tree and a marine snail.

 

And that 'Latin' names are sometimes 'Greek'.  

 

My head is starting to hurt....?

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23 hours ago, thegardener said:

If we take the genus Quercus, and then add the specific epithet, say, rubra, is it these two identifying names together that form the ‘species’?
 

This is how I’ve always understood it.BD1AD4CF-F8AD-4CC4-973B-42077827FFC0.thumb.jpeg.e800c64a12bb6c839fb55d16e5c55d13.jpeg 


Yes. This is correct. 
 

 

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1 hour ago, Bunzena said:

Gets even more complicated when you discover that two separate species can have the same 'Latin' name.

 

Ficus elegans is both a fig tree and a marine snail.

 

And that 'Latin' names are sometimes 'Greek'.  

 

My head is starting to hurt....?

Names aren't latin, they are latinised, that is to say the gender and case of the species must match the genus and must use the recognised latin style of suffixes. An equivalent in french would be 'Le chat noir' and 'La chatte noire'. In this way, 'rubra' can be the correct match for some genus' but 'rubrum' for others. The genus name can be derived from any language. So can the species name, but if it's plainly nicked from someone's name, like Mr. Lamarck, the latinised grammatically correct species name has to be lamarckii, as in Amelanchier l. There's also the written rule in english that not many people bother with but wouldn't get past review in published articles, that foreign words should either be underlined or italicised (or within inverted commas), as I have done above. The word 'italicies' itself is derived from its root word 'Italy', a nod to the romans.

 

Just conventions. The good thing about using latin and latinising is that no-one speaks latin, so it is not subject to accent, dialect or corruption.

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The gender and case of the *specific epithet*... not species. I’m being pedantic, I know, but this was the whole reason behind my post. 
 

It’s also worth noting that to be strictly correct, for plants the authority, too, should be included. That is to say the first person (since Linnaeus) to document that name for the species. So here here it would be Quercus rubra L. 

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