Specific Name (zoology)
The specific name in zoological nomenclature (also: specific epithet or species epithet) is the second part (the second name) within the name of a species (a binomen). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus or the generic name.
The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description.
- Example: The scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name" (the name of the genus) and sapiens is the "specific name".
Read more about Specific Name (zoology): The Grammar of Species Names, Differences From Botany
Famous quotes containing the word specific:
“I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,
Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.
Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly,
musical, self-sufficient,
I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,
Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb,
Rich, hemm’d thick all around with sailships and steamships, an
island sixteen miles long, solid-founded,”
—Walt Whitman (1819–1892)