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I. Introduction
A. Taxonomists Classify
B. Taxonomists Identify
C. Taxonomists Name
II. Identification
A. The Process
1. A matching process; you match the
characteristics of a newly found organism
to the characteristics of those you have
already classified
2. If you find a complete match you have
identified the organism
3. If you cannot make all the matches then
you have discovered a new type of
organism; it is then classified and named
III. Nomenclature
A. Why name an organism?
"What's the use of their having names," the Gnat said, "if they won't answer
to them?"
"No use to them," said Alice; "but it's useful to the people that name them,
I suppose."
-- Lewis Carrol, "Through the Looking Glass"
1. It allows you to identify precisely which of
the 30 million different species you are
talking about
B. How do you name an organism?
1. A bit of history...
IV. History of Nomenclature
A. John Ray (1627-1705)
1. Coined the word "species"
2. Polynomial nomenclature
a. Example: Catnip
Nepeta floribus interrupte spicatus
pedunculatis
(Nepeta with flowers in an interrupted
pedunculate spike)
B. Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) [Carl von Linné]
1. "Species Plantarum" (1753)
2. Binomial nomenclature
a. Example: Catnip
Nepeta cataria
V. Some Rules
A. Two Parts to a Name
1. The first part of the name is the genus name
2. The second part of the name is the species
name
B. The Genus Part
1. The first letter is capitalized
a. Nepeta
b. Homo
C. The Species Part
1. The first letter is not capitalized (usually)
a. cataria
b. sapiens
D. Both Parts
1. Both words are italicized (or underlined)
a. Nepeta cataria (Nepeta cataria)
b. Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens)
E. Abbreviations
1. If the genus has been used before or is well
known then it may be abbreviated, usually
by its first letter.
a. Homo sapiens: H. sapiens
b. Escherichia coli: E. coli
2. If the species is unknown or unspecified
then the abbreviation "sp." is used to
denote a species within the genus named.
a. A species of fruit fly: Drosophila sp.
b. A species of Amoeba: Amoeba sp.
3. If more than one species within a genus is
unspecified then the abbreviation "spp." is
used.
a. Several species of Paramecium:
Paramecium spp.
b. Several species of Chrysanthemum:
Chrysanthemum spp.
VI. Some Examples
A. The Genus Canis
B. The Genus Felis
VII. Examples of How to Create a Name
A. Describe the Color
1. Acer rubrum (red maple tree)
2. Acer nigrum (black maple tree)
3. Rosa alba (white rose)
B. Describe the Location
1. Loxodonta africanus
(An organism with slanted ["loxo-"] teeth
["-donta"] living in Africa)
C. Honor Someone
1. Strigiphilus garylarsoni
a. An owl louse named in honor of
Gary Larson
(Also Garylarsonus, a beetle.)
2. Calponia harrisonfordi
a. A spider named by in honor of
Harrison Ford
3. Rickettsia spp.
a. R. rickettsii
i. Causative agent of Rocky Mountain
spotted fever
ii. Named in honor of Howard Taylor
Ricketts
b. R. prowazekii
i. Causative agent of typhus fever
ii. Named in honor of S. von Prowazek
D. Dishonor Someone
1. Sigesbeckia
a. A weedy, small-flowered, unattractive
member of the sunflower family, named
by Linnaeus after Johann Georg
Siegesbeck, a critic of Linnaeus.
E. Make a Point or Have Some Fun
1. Hallucigenia
2. Agra vation
3a. Marichisme
3b. Polichisme
4. Cafeteria
5. Jurassosaurus nedegoapeferkimorum
F. Non-Scientific Uses
1. Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons
2. Manypeeplia upsidownia
-- Edward Lear, "Nonsense Botany"
VIII. Summary
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Additional Web
Resources
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Nomenclature
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Page URL: http://www.ric.edu/jmontvilo/109files/109(14)nomenclature.htm
Prepared by Jerome A. Montvilo, Ph.D. for the use of his students.
Copyright © by Jerome A. Montvilo. All rights reserved.
Please send questions, comments, or suggestions to jmontvilo@ric.edu.
Last updated: January 14, 2005
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