Each species is universally identified by a binomial consisting of its genus and species name, eg Homo sapiens
Every species gets a unique two-part Latin name called a binomial. The first part names the genus; the second names the species — for example, Homo sapiens.
Real World
The COVID-19 virus was formally named SARS-CoV-2, but the organism that caused the 2020 pandemic's host bat species is written Rhinolophus affinis — genus italicised and capitalised, species lowercase.
Exam Focus
Always italicise (or underline) binomials, capitalise only the genus, and never abbreviate on first use in an answer.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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