Scientific Names: garden life
|
Why do we use scientific (Latin) names for species?
Well, firstly, it is a universal system that allows everyone from all parts of the world to be sure they are all talking about the same lifeform. English and other languages have many different names for the same organism - common names are not good enough for accurate communication. Secondly, scientific classification and naming (“taxonomy”) allow us to place organisms into ordered groups (classes, orders, families, species, etc.) that reflect their relatedness - their biological, evolutionary and genetic similarity. |
|
Thus a daisy in your lawn is species perennis or the genus Bellis of the family Asteraceae of the order ASTERALES of the class MAGNOLIOPSIDA of the phylum MAGNOLIOPHYTA of the kingdom PLANTAE. Scientific names are descriptive and often tell us much about the species in question - it is really useful to have studies classics and to know some Latin and Greek. For example, there is a genus of ground and rock squirrels called Spermophilus. This comes from the Greek (sperma = seed, philus = loving). One species of Spermophilus that is found in the USA is the Idaho ground squirrel, Spermophilus brunneus. Brunneus is Latin for brown, so we have a neat descriptive name that tells us that these little animals are brown in colour and love seeds. | |
|
Fungi baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae fairy ring Marasmius oreades white truffle Tuber magnatum field mushroom Agaricus campestris giant puffball Camarophyllopsis atropuncta | |
|
Plants ash tree Fraxinus excelsior creeping buttercup Ranunculus repens mistletoe Viscum album broad bean Vicia faba snowdrop Galanthus nivalis | |
|
Invertebrates peacock butterfly Inachis io honey bee Apis mellifera yellow meadow ant Lasius flavus great diving beetle Dytiscus marginalis dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus | |
|
Fish Atlantic salmon Salmo salar brown trout Trutta trutta chub Leuciscus cephalus minnow Phoxinus phoxinus Atlantic cod Gadus morhua | |
|
Amphibians common toad Bufo bufo common frog Rana temporaria great crested newt Triturus cristatus smooth newt Triturus vulgaris European tree frog Hyla arborea | |
|
Reptiles
grass snake Natrix natrix slow-worm Anguis fragilis viviparous lizard Lacerta vivipara adder Vipera berus smooth snake Coronella austriaca | |
|
Birds
blackbird Turdus merula budgerigar Melopsittacus undulatus chaffinch Fringilla coelebs cuckoo Cuculus canorus Canada goose Branta canadensis | |
|
Mammals horse Equus caballus badger Meles meles fox Vulpes vulpes mole Talpa europaea pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus | |
| Copyright Christopher Betts Environmental Biology 2006 |