| Kingdom
Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species |
In the Linnean system (and taxonomic systems based on it), the Genus is the first grouping of species, the ranking between Family or Tribe and Species. Only very closley related species are grouped together in a single genus. The genus is sort of like the surname, whereas the species is the first name. So Canis lupus, the wolf, is distinguished from Canis familiaris, the domesticated dog. Although very similiar they are still distinct species, but belong to the same genus. Or in man, Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Note that the higher ranking (genus) name is written first. This is like the Chinese system of names where the family (sur-)name comes before the individual name. e.g. Kung-fu-tze (Confucious) was literally "Mr Kung" (Kung being the family name). As a formality the genus name, like the species name, has to be written in italics. Where that is not possible it should underlined, e.g. Homo erectus (that one is not a link ;-) |
| rank | suffix |
| Genus | Genus species |
| Subgenus | Genus (Subgenus) species |
There is a regrettable tendency though to split up vertebrate
(especially dinosaurian) genera so that each genus only has a single species
- e.g. T. bataar is often called Tarbosaurus, despite being
so similiar to Tyrannosaurus it is not funny. Such oversplitting
also occurs among fossil invertebrates, groups like the Nautiloidea
(molluscs) are serious oversplit with much too many genera - especially
if you compare them to recent molluscs.
| Linnean Systematics page |