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Why are the scientific names written in italics?
Going back to the question on why scientific names should be italicised or underscored, Dr. Lit said that it is done to highlight or differentiate them from the other words in an article or book. “Scientific names are in Latin, and not in English which is the universally-used writing language,” Lit explained.
Why are the scientific names written in italics or underlined separately if written by hand?
The names are written in Latin and are italicized ( If the scientific name is typed then it must be the Latin language to avoid the conflicts between the country since Latin is not the national language of any country. And it should be italicized.)
Are scientific names written in italics?
The scientific names of species are italicized. The genus name is always capitalized and is written first; the specific epithet follows the genus name and is not capitalized. There is no exception to this.
Why are scientific names always in Latin?
Linnaeus and other scientists used Latin because it was a dead language. No people or nation uses it as an official language. After experimenting with various alternatives, Linnaeus simplified naming immensely by designating one Latin name to indicate the genus, and one as a “shorthand” name for the species.
Why scientific names are written in Latin?
How do you write a genus and species name correctly?
Genus and species: Names should always be italicized or underlined. The first letter of the genus name is capitalized but the specific epithet is not, e.g. Lavandula angustifolia.
When written by hand the genus name and the species name have to be underlined separately?
Binomial names are always written in italics. In general practice, the font used for the italics should be different from the font used for the rest of the text. For binomial names written by hand, the genus and species are to be underlined separately. For example, Tyrannosaurus rex.