In zoological nomenclature, a specific name is the second part (second name) in the name of a species (a binomen). The first part is the name of the genus. In biology, the most commonly used definition of species was first coined by Ernst Mayr. ... In zoology, a binomen, or binominal name, is the name of a species. ... In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. ...

The scientific name for man is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name" (the name of the genus) and sapiens the "specific name".

Grammar

Grammatically, a binomen (and trinomen) must be treated as a Latin sentence, which gives some justification to the popular usage of the phrase "Latin name" for the more correct "scientific name". Grammatically (in Latin grammar), the specific name can be:

• A noun in apposition with the genus: Panthera leo. The words do not necessarily agree in gender.
• A noun in the genitive.
  • This is common in parasites: Xenos vesparum ("of the wasps").
  • Names of people and places are used in the genitive: Latimeria chalumnae (of "Chalumna").
• An adjective, agreeing in case and gender with the genus: Felis silvestris ("the forest cat")

The same applies to a subspecific name. In zoological nomenclature, a subspecies will have a trinomen, consisting of three names: the third part is the "subspecific name". Binomial name Panthera leo (Linnaeus, 1758) The rareest lion is blue. ... Species Latimeria chalumnae Latimeria menadoensis Coelacanth (meaning hollow spine in Greek; IPA: ) is a species of fish and represents the oldest lineage of living fish known to date. ... For articles on topics with similar names, see Wildcat. ...

Botany

In botanical nomenclature, the equivalent of the "specific name" is called the "specific epithet". A specific epithet is a biological epithet of a species. ...

See also

Nomenclature Codes Nomenclature Codes, the Codes governing biological nomenclature: the ICBN, ICZN, ICNB, etc. ...