Scientific Names of Animals and Plants

Scientific names of animals and plants are frequently used for categorizing animals and plants based on their genus and species. The Binomial Nomenclature are generally derived from Latin words. Binomial Nomenclature consists of two names – genus and species.

As the local names vary from place to place and can not be learned easily, scientific names in Binomial Nomenclature are very helpful in studying animals and plants. Carl Linnaeus gave this system of Binomial Nomenclature. In this article, we will study the rules of binomial nomenclature, and scientific names of some common plants and animals.

What is Scientific Nomenclature?

Scientific Nomenclature is defined as identifying or naming the organisms. In an ecosystem it is very difficult to identify an organism without a proper name. Scientific nomenclature is a type of systematic process for designating species which is generally made up of two name. Therefore nomenclature helps to remember a particular organism by one or two words. A Swedish Botanist Carl Linnaeus gave a system of binomial nomenclature to name all the animals and plants.

What is Binomial Nomenclature?

Binomial nomenclature is the biological system of naming the organisms. Scientific names in bionomical nomenclature generally consist of two parts. The initial part or the generic name of the scientific name highlights the genus to which an organism belongs. The second part, or the specific name, identifies the exact species under which the organism falls, within the genus. Binomial nomenclature is often referred to as scientific name.

Binomial Nomenclature Rules

There are some certain rules in Binomial Nomenclature to be followed in order to specify the scientific name of animal and plants. For example, the generic name is written in uppercase, while the specific name is in lowercase. Additionally, the entire name should be italicized when typed and underlined when writing by pen.

Modern Humans
Generic Name	Homo
Specific Name	sapiens

• Every scientific name should be Latinized or derived from Latin.
• The name should be unique to each organism i.e. no two organisms should have the same scientific name.
• The first name should always be the generic name and the second one should always be the species/specific epithet.
• If handwritten it should always be underlined, and if printed then it should be italicized.
• The first alphabet of the generic name should be in capital and the first alphabet of the species epithet should be small, for example, human = Homo sapiens.
• When required the name of the discoverer or author should be added in abbreviated form after the species epithet, for example, mango = Mangifera indica Linn.

Based on these rules scientific naming is currently governed by international communities like; the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) for botanical names, the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for zoological names, the International Code for Bacteriological Nomenclature (ICBact.N) for bacteria, etc.

List of Scientific Names of Animals

Here is the list of scientific names of animals.

Common Name	Scientific Name
Ant	Formicidae
Arabian camel	Camelus dromedarius
African elephant	Loxodonta
African Cheetah	Acinonyx jubatus jubatus
Asian Elephant	Elephas maximus
Asian Cheetah	Acinonyx jubatus venaticus
Asian Lion	Panthera leo persica
Bat	Chiroptera
Asian wild water buffalo	Bubalus arnee
Buffalo	Bubalus bubalis
Bear	Ursidae
Bear (Polar)	Ursus maritimus
Sun Bear	Helarctos malayanus
Blackbuck	Antilope cervicapra
Bulbul	Pycnonotidae
Butterfly	Rhopalocera
Cat	Felis catus
Chinkara	Gazella bennettii
King Cobra	Ophiophagus hannah
Indian Cobra	Naja naja
Cockroach	Blattodea
Indian Cow	Bos indicus
European Cow	Bos taurus
Indian Crocodile	Crocodylus palustris
Indian fish eating crocodile (Ghadiyal or Gharial)	Gavialis gangetica
Dog	Canis lupus familiaris
Gangetic Dolphin	Platanista gangetica
Eagle	Accipitridae
Fish	Vertebrata
Golden or Himalayan Mahseer fish	Tor putitora
Red fox	Vulpes vulpes
Indian fox or Bengal fox	Vulpes bengalensis
Hen	Gallus gallus domesticus
Horse	Equus caballus
House crow	Corvus splendens
Housefly	Musca domestica
Goat	Capra aegagrus hircus
House wall Lizard	Hemidactylus flaviviridis
Indian or House sparrow	Passer domesticus
Parrot	Psittaciformes
Indian Python	Python molurus
Koel	Eudynamys scolopaceus
Indian snow leopard	Panthera uncia
Indian Bengal Tiger	Panthera tigris tigris
Red Panda	Ailurus fulgens
White bellied musk deer or Himalayan musk deer	Moschus leucogaster
Deer	Cervidae
Western Tragopan or Jujurana (king of birds)	Tragopan melanocephalus
Himalayan Monal	Lophophorus impejanus
Kashmir Stag	Cervus elaphus hanglu
Chimpanzee	Pan troglodytes
Grasshopper
Gray Langur	Semnopithecus
Old world monkeys	Cercopithecidae
Indian Wolf	Canis lupus pallipes
Himalayan Sheepdog	Canis lupus familiaris
Sheep	Ovis aries
Indian Peacock	Pavo cristatus
Zebra	Equus quagga

List of Scientific Names of Plants

Here is the list of scientific name of plants.

Common Name	Scientific Name
Apple	Malus domestica
Barley	Hordeum vulgare
Brinjal	Solanum melongena
Banyan	Ficus benghalensis
Black gram	Plasoes mungo
Black pepper	piper nigrum
Cotton	Gossypium herbaceum
Curry leaf	Murraya koenigii
Coriander	Coriandrum sativum
Capsicum	Capsicum fruitscence
Cucumber	Cucumis sativas
Chiku	Achras sapota
Guava	Psidium guava
Garlic	Allium sativum
Ginger	Zingiber officinale
Green Gram	Phaseolies aulicus
Grapes	Vitis vinifera
Horse Gram	Dolichos biffoeus
Jowar	Sorghum vulgare
Lemon	Citrus limonium
Mango	Mangifera indica
Jack fruit	Artocarpus integra
Jute	Corchorus
Onion	Allium cepa
Orange	Citrus aurantium
Kadamb	Anthocephalus
Maize	Zea mays
Dragon fruit	Hylocereus undatus
Lady’s Finger	Abelmoschus esculentus
Neem	Azadirachta indica
Mint	Mentha arvensis
Money Plant	Epipremnum aureum
Pea	Pisum sativum
Potato	Solanum tuberosum
Papaya	Carica papaya
Pomegranate	Punica granatum
Peepal	Ficus religiosa linn.
Tobacco	Nicotina tobaccum
Tomato	Solanum lycopersicum
Tulsi	Ocimum sanctum
Turmeric	Curcuma longa
Soya bean	Glycine max
Sandalwood	Santalum album
Sal Tree	Shorea robusta
Tea	Camellia sinensis
Coffee	Coffea
Babul tree	Vachellia nilotica
Teak wood	Tectona grandis
Rice	Oryza sativa
Wheat	Triticum
Watermelon	Citrullus lanatus

List of Scientific Name of Extinct Organisms

Here is the list of scientific names of some popular extinct organisms.

Common Name	Scientific Name
Passenger pigeon	Ectopistes migratorius
Tasmanian tiger	Thylacinus cynocephalus
Moa	Dinornithiformes
T-Rex	Tyrannosaurus rex
Great auk	Pinguinus impennis
Megalodon	Carcharocles megalodon

Importance of Binomial Nomenclature

Importance of binomial nomenclature are given below:

• It shortened the long forms of scientific naming that were designed earlier which were very inconvenient.
• It helped in the removal of confusion associated with local naming.
• It made the remembering and documenting process easy.
• It gave a standard, and universally accepted naming system.

Conclusion – Scientific Names of Animals And Plants

In conclusion, scientific names for animals and plants established through binomial nomenclature, provide a systematic and universally accepted means of categorization based on genus and species. This system, devised by Carl Linnaeus, facilitates precise communication and study of organisms across languages and regions. By adhering to specific rules and guidelines, such as Latinization and unique naming, binomial nomenclature ensures clarity and consistency in scientific study.

FAQs – Scientific Names of Animal And Plants

What are the Scientific Name of Animals?

The scientific names of animals consist of two parts: the genus and species names, such as Homo sapiens for humans and Canis lupus for wolves. These names are used universally by scientists to accurately identify and classify different species.

Why do Plants and Animals have Scientific Names?

It allow the people throughout the world to study about animal species with a common name.

What is Trinomial Nomenclature?

It is recently modified version of binomial nomenclature system where after the species epithet another name is added in which sub-species, variety or race is used. For example Lion is Panthera leo but when it comes to name Indian lion Panthera leo persica is used.

Which is Both Plant and Animal?

Planktonic Plants are both the animals and plants. Phytoplankton are microscopic plant-like organisms that live in the water.

What is the Correct Scientific Name of Human?

The scientific name of human is Homosapiens .

What is the Scientific Name of Wheat.

The correct scientific name of wheat is Triticum aestivum.

How Scientific Names are Given to Animals?

Scientific names for animals are given based on a binomial system created by Carl Linnaeus, using Latin or Greek words to describe their genus and species, allowing for precise classification and identification in the scientific community.