In this website, you will often come across a perfectly understandable
name like 'Wild boar' followed immediately by something like 'Sus
scrofa'. 'Wild boar' is the common name for the animal and 'Sus
scrofa' is its scientific name.
Chelmon rostratus
Butterflyfish |
Why
do we have scientific names?
Scientists everywhere use the same scientific name regardless
of the language they speak or write. Thus they know exactly
which living thing is discussed. In this universal scientific
naming system, each kind of living things has a unique name
in a language which includes Latin and Greek words.
Why not just use common names?
Common names are confusing because one living thing may have
several common names; or one common name can refer to several
different living things. If you need to find out more about
a living thing, say on the internet, for a more accurate search,
use the scientific name rather than the common name. |
Secrets
of scientific names: Scientific names reveal the relationship
among living things. Just as we may guess that two people with the
same surname are somehow related.
|
Species
|
Genus
|
Family
|
Order
|
Class
|
Phylum
|
Kingdom
|
|
Scientific
names organise living things into groups. A scientific name
has two parts: a generic name (genus) followed by a specific
name (species). Those of the same species can breed in the wild,
but not with others of a different species. Related species
have the same genus name and share similar features.
Related genera (plural of genus) are grouped into a Family.
Those in the same Family share similar characteristics and a
common ancestry. |
Related Families
are grouped into an Order, related Orders into a Class, and related
Classes into a Phylum. Related Phyla (plural of phylum) are grouped
into a Kingdom.
Along
the right hand margin are some of the more familiar members of the
Phylum Mollusca. They appear different but
they share similar features and a common ancestry. Thus they are grouped
together. For example, they are soft-bodied, with a radula (rasping
tongue) and many have shells. Here is another
example showing the classification of sea stars, sea urchins,
sand dollars and sea cucumbers.
As if this were not confusing enough, scientific names may change
as more is learnt about the ancestry and features of various plants
and animals. Such new information may change the way living things
are organised, and their scientific names are changed accordingly.
|
|
Example
of classification of molluscs
Phylum Mollusca
MOLLUSCS
Some of the Classes in the Phylum Mollusca include the following...
Class
Gastropoda
GASTROPODS
Whelk
Land snail
Slug
|
Class
Bivalvia
(BIVALVES)
Cockle shell
Fan shell
|
Class
Cephalopoda
(CEPHALOPODS)
Squid
Octopus
|
|
