Biology · The Living World · NEET
NCERT lists these rules: (1) Biological names are generally in Latin and written in italics; they are Latinised or derived from Latin no matter where they came from. (2) The first word is the genus, the second word is the specific epithet. (3) When handwritten, both words are underlined SEPARATELY (or printed in italics) to show their Latin origin. (4) The genus name starts with a CAPITAL letter; the specific epithet starts with a SMALL letter. (5) The author's name comes after the specific epithet, in short form, e.g. Mangifera indica Linn. Learn all five, because NEET picks one and reverses it.
No. This is the single most tested trap. Biological names are NOT written in any language. They are generally in Latin, or Latinised (changed to look like Latin) even if the word came from another language. In NEET 2016, the WRONG option (the answer to 'which is contrary to the rules') was exactly 'Biological names can be written in any language.' Remember: only Latin, never 'any language.'
The genus (first word) starts with a CAPITAL letter. The specific epithet (second word) starts with a SMALL letter. Example: Mangifera indica. So writing both words with small letters is WRONG. NEET 2019 (Odisha) used exactly this trap: the false option said 'Generic and specific names should be written starting with small letters' — that is against the rules.
The FIRST word is the genus (generic name). The SECOND word is the specific epithet. Students often flip this. NEET 2026 used this exact reversal as the wrong answer: 'The first word represents the specific epithet, while the second denotes the genus' — that is false. Correct order: Genus first, epithet second.
When printed, scientific names are in italics. But you cannot make italics with a pen. So when handwritten, both words are UNDERLINED, and each word is underlined SEPARATELY. This underlining shows the Latin origin. So both 'printed in italics' and 'handwritten underlined' are correct rules — do not mark them as wrong in a trap question.
The author name comes at the END of the biological name, right after the specific epithet, and it is written in an abbreviated (short) form. Example: Mangifera indica Linn. Here 'Linn.' is short for Linnaeus and means this species was first described by Linnaeus. The author name is NOT italicised.
Because it is pure memory with a fixed answer, and it is easy to write tricky options by flipping one rule. Once you know the five rules cold, these questions are free marks. Almost every year (2016, 2019, 2023, 2026) has a 'which is NOT true / which is against the rules' question on this topic.
Nomenclature is governed by certain universal rules. Which one of the following is contrary to the rules of nomenclature?
Which of the following is against the rules of ICBN?
Which one of the following statements is not true about the universal rules of binomial nomenclature?
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Carolus Linnaeus gave the two-word (binomial) naming system. R.H. Whittaker (Five Kingdom classification) and Ernst Mayr (biological species definition) are common wrong options in NEET, so do not confuse them.
'Bi' means two and 'nomial' means name. So each organism gets a two-word scientific name: the genus name plus the specific epithet, e.g. Homo sapiens or Mangifera indica.
Plant names follow the ICBN (International Code for Botanical Nomenclature) and animal names follow the ICZN (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature). Both sets of rules are similar in spirit (Latin, italics, genus capital, epithet small).
No. The two-word (binomial) name is genus + specific epithet only. The author name (like Linn.) is an extra piece added at the end to show who first described the species; it is not counted as one of the two words.
Separately. When handwritten, the genus is underlined and the specific epithet is underlined as two separate underlines, not one continuous line under the whole name.
