Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Genus ( / ˈdʒiːnəs / pl.: genera / ˈdʒɛnərə /) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. [ 1] In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus.
A species ( pl.: species) is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. [ 1] It is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity.
In biology, taxonomic rank is the relative level of a group of organisms (a taxon) in an ancestral or hereditary hierarchy. A common system of biological classification ( taxonomy) consists of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. While older approaches to taxonomic classification were phenomenological, forming ...
Taxon. African elephants form the genus Loxodonta, a widely accepted taxon. In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from taxonomy; pl.: taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and given a particular ...
Genus (philosophy) In term logic, a genus is one of the predicables; it is that part of a definition which is also predicable of other things different from the definiendum. E.g., figure in the definition: A triangle is a rectilinear figure. In fixing the genus of a thing, we subsume it under a higher universal, of which it is a species .
A genus–differentia definition is a type of intensional definition, and it is composed of two parts: a genus (or family): An existing definition that serves as a portion of the new definition; all definitions with the same genus are considered members of that genus. the differentia: The portion of the definition that is not provided by the genus.
In modern usage, a definition is something, typically expressed in words, that attaches a meaning to a word or group of words. The word or group of words that is to be defined is called the definiendum, and the word, group of words, or action that defines it is called the definiens. [ 6] For example, in the definition "An elephant is a large ...
Binomial nomenclature for species has the effect that when a species is moved from one genus to another, sometimes the specific name or epithet must be changed as well. This may happen because the specific name is already used in the new genus, or to agree in gender with the new genus if the specific epithet is an adjective modifying the genus ...