Species & Binomial Nomenclature
Species
A species is the smallest natural group of organisms.
Members of a species can reproduce together to produce fertile offspring.
They usually look very similar in:
Appearance
Anatomy
Physiology
Behaviour
Example: Common myna, eagle, and parrot are different species of birds.
Artificial breeding by humans can cause large differences in appearance.
Example: All cats belong to the same species, but breeds like Siamese and American Longhair look different and can still reproduce.
Binomial Nomenclature
It is an international system of naming organisms.
Each organism has a scientific name with two parts:
Genus name – starts with a capital letter
Species name – starts with a small letter
Example:
Egyptian mongoose → Herpestes ichneumon
Indian grey mongoose → Herpestes edwardsii
Scientific names are written in Latin, so they are the same worldwide.