BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE: BACKGROUND, RULES, ADVANTAGES - BIOLOGY - 2025

The binomial nomenclature is a system used by the scientific community to give a two-word name to all living organisms. It was created by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century, and since its appearance it has been used in all scientific branches of biology to uniformly identify the various species.

The first word in the nomenclature refers to the genus of the species. For example, the species of bird known as black storks (Ciconia nigra) uses the word Ciconia, which means "Stork." The second part of the nomenclature is a word that scientists use to differentiate the species from the rest.

Carl Linnaeus

In the case of this particular species of stork, nigra means "black." Hence, Ciconia nigra is translated as "black stork." By putting both terms together, the binomial nomenclature is created, which gives rise to the scientific name of a given organism.

Background

Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish scientist who dedicated most of his life to the study of botany. However, his achievement that had the most impact on the scientific community was the creation of the binomial nomenclature.

From 1735 to 1759 Linnaeus published a series of works that laid the foundations for the nomenclature system that is still used today.

Previously, an arbitrary phrase was used to name species. The Swedish scientist's proposition removed the subjective element of naming.

His idea replaced the traditional nomenclature with a system that served to give a name to the species by which they could be universally recognized.

The first time Linnaeus used this system it was in a small project in which students had to identify the plants that each type of livestock consumed.

He had great success with his idea, but it was not until 1753 that he published his first work with the binomial nomenclature, called Species plantarum.

Rules

The rules of binomial nomenclature were established for the entire scientific community to name species uniquely. However, it is also important that the names have worldwide use.

Gender

The genus of a species is also known as the generic name. It should always start with a capital letter. For example, dogs are known in the scientific community as Canis lupus.

It is important that the second part of the nomenclature is not used repeatedly within the same biological family, but the genus can be used in more than one name.

Species

The species is also known as the specific name and refers to the second word in the nomenclature. It has a different meaning depending on the branch of biology to which it refers, but it always tends to encompass a specific animal or plant family.

Unlike the genus, the word referring to the species is always written with a lower case. A noun or an adjective can be used, as long as it matches the grammatical gender of the first word of the nomenclature (feminine or masculine).

Writing

Names belonging to the binomial nomenclature must always be written in italics. In fact, in general terms, when writing a text on a computer, a different font should be used from the rest of the text when the binomial nomenclature is going to be written.

Another additional rule of writing applies when the word is repeated several times throughout a text. The first time, the nomenclature has to be written in its entirety.

However, from that point on, the genre can be summarized each time it is rewritten. For example, Homo sapiens, H. sapiens.

Advantage

Clarity

The use of a universal name to refer to each specific animal species is the main benefit of the binomial nomenclature.

By using a single term, regardless of the language spoken, you eliminate the language barrier that is created when translating a discovery from one language to another.

Its use also creates an element of authenticity. Some binomial nomenclature words are used beyond the scientific community to refer to certain species, such as Homo sapiens.

Remembrance

Compared to the system that was used in ancient times to give scientific names to species, the binomial is much shorter and easier to remember.

Furthermore, it corresponds to the use of names in most cultures worldwide, where a first name is assigned and then a surname. The binomial naming system is governed by the same principle, which facilitates memorization.

Authenticity

From a taxonomic point of view, a species exists in a unique way. Binomial nomenclature allows each unique species to be named with a unique name in any other specific species. That is, no matter how similar two species are, each must have a different nomenclature.

Stability

The series of rules that binomial nomenclature presents allows each name to have a level of stability related to the rest of the species.

This generates a unique naming system for each species, but at the same time it is governed by the same principles that other names have.

This also applies to each species in particular. When changing the genus of a species, it is very likely that the second part of the nomenclature does not need to be changed.

This creates an internal stability which, in turn, improves the long-term level of recall of each particular name.

Examples

Felis concolor

This nomenclature encompasses a series of animal names that actually refer to the same species. The animals known in Spanish as the mountain lion, jaguar or puma, represent the species of Felis concolor.

In this case, Felis refers to the genus of the species (feline) and concolor means that it has a unique color.

Homo sapiens

Like most of the words belonging to the binomial nomenclature, Homo sapiens comes from Latin. Homo means man, while sapiens means wise.

Together these words read "wise man," and this term is used to refer to human beings and distinguish them from other human species that are now extinct.

References

1. Binomial Nomenclature, Biology Dictionary, 2018. Taken from biologydictionary.net
2. Rules of Binomial Nomenclature, Biology Dictionary, 2018. Taken from biologydictionary.net
3. Carolus Linnaeus, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
4. The Importance of Binomial Nomenclature, Sciencing, 2018. Taken from sciencing.com
5. Binomial Nomenclature: What is it and why is it important ?, J. Lucero, (nd). Taken from christianherbal.org