Genus

Genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic

rank used in the biological classification
of living and fossil organisms as well as
viruses,[1] in biology. In the hierarchy of
biological classification, genus comes
above species and below family. In
binomial nomenclature, the genus name
forms the first part of the binomial
species name for each species within the
genus.
The hierarchy of biological classification's eight
major taxonomic ranks. A family contains one or
more genera. Intermediate minor rankings are not
shown.

E.g. Panthera leo (lion) and Panthera

onca (jaguar) are two species within
the genus Panthera. Panthera is a
genus within the family Felidae.
The composition of a genus is
determined by taxonomists. The
standards for genus classification are
not strictly codified, so different
authorities often produce different
classifications for genera. There are
some general practices used,
however,[2][3] including the idea that a
newly defined genus should fulfill these
three criteria to be descriptively useful:

1. monophyly – all descendants of an

ancestral taxon are grouped
together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis
should clearly demonstrate both
monophyly and validity as a
separate lineage).
 2. reasonable compactness – a genus
should not be expanded needlessly.
3. distinctness – with respect to
evolutionarily relevant criteria, i.e.
ecology, morphology, or
biogeography; DNA sequences are a
consequence rather than a condition
of diverging evolutionary lineages
except in cases where they directly
inhibit gene flow (e.g. postzygotic
barriers).

Moreover, genera should be composed of

phylogenetic units of the same kind as
other (analogous) genera.[4]

Etymology
The term "genus" comes from the Latin
genus ('origin, type, group, race,
family'),[5][6] a noun form cognate with
gignere ('to bear; to give birth to').
Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753
Species Plantarum, but the French
botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort
(1656–1708) is considered "the founder
of the modern concept of genera".[7]

Use
The scientific name (or the scientific
epithet) of a genus is also called the
generic name; in modern style guides
and science it is always capitalised. It
plays a fundamental role in binomial
nomenclature, the system of naming
organisms, where it is combined with the
scientific name of a species: see Specific
name (botany) and Specific name
(zoology).

Use in nomenclature …

The rules for the scientific names of

organisms are laid down in the
Nomenclature Codes, which allow each
species a single unique name that, for
"animals" (including protists), "plants"
(also including algae and fungi) and
prokaryotes (Bacteria and Archaea), is
Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts
with common or vernacular names,
which are non-standardized, can be non-
unique, and typically also vary by country
and language of usage.

Except for viruses, the standard format

for a species name comprises the
generic name, indicating the genus to
which the species belongs, followed by
the specific epithet, which (within that
genus) is unique to the species. For
example, the gray wolf's scientific name
is Canis lupus, with Canis (Latin for 'dog')
being the generic name shared by the
wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for
'wolf') being the specific name particular
to the wolf. A botanical example would
be Hibiscus arnottianus, a particular
species of the genus Hibiscus native to
Hawaii. The specific name is written in
lower-case and may be followed by
subspecies names in zoology or a variety
of infraspecific names in botany.

When the generic name is already known

from context, it may be shortened to its
initial letter, for example C. lupus in place
of Canis lupus. Where species are further
subdivided, the generic name (or its
abbreviated form) still forms the leading
portion of the scientific name, for
example, Canis lupus familiaris for the
domestic dog (when considered a
subspecies of the gray wolf) in zoology,
or as a botanical example,
Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus.
Also, as visible in the above examples,
the Latinised portions of the scientific
names of genera and their included
species (and infraspecies, where
applicable) are, by convention, written in
italics.

The scientific names of virus species are

descriptive, not binomial in form, and
may or may not incorporate an indication
of their containing genus; for example,
the virus species "Salmonid herpesvirus
1", "Salmonid herpesvirus 2" and
"Salmonid herpesvirus 3" are all within
the genus Salmonivirus, however, the
genus to which the species with the
formal names "Everglades virus" and
"Ross River virus" are assigned is
Alphavirus.

As with scientific names at other ranks,

in all groups other than viruses, names of
genera may be cited with their
authorities, typically in the form "author,
year" in zoology, and "standard
abbreviated author name" in botany.
Thus in the examples above, the genus
Canis would be cited in full as "Canis
Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while
Hibiscus, also first established by
Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply "Hibiscus
L." (botanical usage).
The type concept …

Each genus should have a designated

type, although in practice there is a
backlog of older names without one. In
zoology, this is the type species and the
generic name is permanently associated
with the type specimen of its type
species. Should the specimen turn out to
be assignable to another genus, the
generic name linked to it becomes a
junior synonym and the remaining taxa in
the former genus need to be reassessed.

Categories of generic name …

In zoological usage, taxonomic names,
including those of genera, are classified
as "available" or "unavailable". Available
names are those published in
accordance with the International Code
of Zoological Nomenclature and not
otherwise suppressed by subsequent
decisions of the International
Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN); the earliest such
name for any taxon (for example, a
genus) should then be selected as the
"valid" (i.e., current or accepted) name for
the taxon in question.

Consequently, there will be more

available names than valid names at any
point in time, which names are currently
in use depending on the judgement of
taxonomists in either combining taxa
described under multiple names, or
splitting taxa which may bring available
names previously treated as synonyms
back into use. "Unavailable" names in
zoology comprise names that either were
not published according to the provisions
of the ICZN Code, or have subsequently
been suppressed, e.g., incorrect original
or subsequent spellings, names
published only in a thesis, and generic
names published after 1930 with no type
species indicated.[8]
In botany, similar concepts exist but with
different labels. The botanical equivalent
of zoology's "available name" is a validly
published name. An invalidly published
name is a nomen invalidum or nom.
inval.; a rejected name is a nomen
rejiciendum or nom. rej.; a later homonym
of a validly published name is a nomen
illegitimum or nom. illeg.; for a full list
refer the International Code of
Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants
(ICNafp) and the work cited above by
Hawksworth, 2010.[8] In place of the
"valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest
equivalent in botany is "correct name" or
"current name" which can, again, differ or
change with alternative taxonomic
treatments or new information that
results in previously accepted genera
being combined or split.

Prokaryote and virus Codes of

Nomenclature also exist which serve as
a reference for designating currently
accepted genus names as opposed to
others which may be either reduced to
synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes,
relegated to a status of "names without
standing in prokaryotic nomenclature".

An available (zoological) or validly

published (botanical) name that has
been historically applied to a genus but is
not regarded as the accepted
(current/valid) name for the taxon is
termed a synonym; some authors also
include unavailable names in lists of
synonyms as well as available names,
such as misspellings, names previously
published without fulfilling all of the
requirements of the relevant
nomenclatural Code, and rejected or
suppressed names.

A particular genus name may have zero

to many synonyms, the latter case
generally if the genus has been known
for a long time and redescribed as new
by a range of subsequent workers, or if a
range of genera previously considered
separate taxa have subsequently been
consolidated into one. For example, the
World Register of Marine Species
presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms
for the sperm whale genus Physeter
Linnaeus, 1758,[9] and 13 for the bivalve
genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776.[10]

Identical names (homonyms) …

Within the same kingdom, one generic

name can apply to one genus only.
However, many names have been
assigned (usually unintentionally) to two
or more different genera. For example,
the platypus belongs to the genus
Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw
named it Platypus in 1799 (these two
names are thus synonyms). However, the
name Platypus had already been given to
a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann
Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A
name that means two different things is
a homonym. Since beetles and
platypuses are both members of the
kingdom Animalia, the name could not be
used for both. Johann Friedrich
Blumenbach published the replacement
name Ornithorhynchus in 1800.

However, a genus in one kingdom is

allowed to bear a scientific name that is
in use as a generic name (or the name of
a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom
that is governed by a different
nomenclature code. Names with the
same form but applying to different taxa
are called "homonyms". Although this is
discouraged by both the International
Code of Zoological Nomenclature and
the International Code of Nomenclature
for algae, fungi, and plants, there are
some five thousand such names in use in
more than one kingdom. For instance,

Anura is the name of the order of frogs

but also is the name of a non-current
genus of plants;
Aotus is the generic name of both
golden peas and night monkeys;
Oenanthe is the generic name of both
wheatears and water dropworts;
 Prunella is the generic name of both
accentors and self-heal; and
Proboscidea is the order of elephants
and the genus of devil's claws.
The name of the genus Paramecia (an
extinct red alga) is also the plural of
the name of the genus Paramecium
(which is in the SAR supergroup),
which can also lead to confusion.

A list of generic homonyms (with their

authorities), including both available
(validly published) and selected
unavailable names, has been compiled
by the Interim Register of Marine and
Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG).[11]
Use in higher classifications …

The type genus forms the base for higher

taxonomic ranks, such as the family
name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis.
However, this does not typically ascend
more than one or two levels: the order to
which dogs and wolves belong is
Carnivora ("Carnivores").

Numbers of accepted genera

The numbers of either accepted, or all
published genus names is not known
precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that
approximately 310,000 accepted names
(valid taxa) may exist, out of a total of c.
520,000 published names (including
synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at
some 2,500 published generic names per
year.[12] "Official" registers of taxon
names at all ranks, including genera,
exist for a few groups only such as
viruses[1] and prokaryotes,[13] while for
others there are compendia with no
"official" standing such as Index
Fungorum for Fungi,[14] Index Nominum
Algarum[15] and AlgaeBase[16] for algae,
Index Nominum Genericorum[17] and the
International Plant Names Index[18] for
plants in general, and ferns through
angiosperms, respectively, and
Nomenclator Zoologicus[19] and the Index
to Organism Names
(http://www.organismnames.com/ ) for
zoological names.

Totals for both "all names" and estimates

for "accepted names" as held in the
Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine
Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further
in the publication by Rees et al., 2020
cited above. The accepted names
estimates are as follows, broken down by
kingdom:

Estimated accepted genus totals by kingdom -

based on Rees et al., 2020
Animalia: 239,093 accepted genus
names (± 55,350)
Plantae: 28,724 accepted genus
names (± 7,721)
Fungi: 10,468 accepted genus names
(± 182)
Chromista: 11,114 accepted genus
names (± 1,268)
Protozoa: 3,109 accepted genus
names (± 1,206)
Bacteria: 3,433 accepted genus names
(± 115)
Archaea: 140 accepted genus names
(± 0)
Viruses: 851 accepted genus names (±
0)
The cited ranges of uncertainty arise
because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names
(not researched therein) in addition to
known "accepted" names; the values
quoted are the mean of "accepted"
names alone (all "uncertain" names
treated as unaccepted) and "accepted +
uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names
treated as accepted), with the associated
range of uncertainty indicating these two
extremes.

Within Animalia, the largest phylum is

Arthropoda, with 151,697 ± 33,160
accepted genus names, of which
114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class
Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta
(vascular plants) make up the largest
component, with 23,236 ± 5,379
accepted genus names, of which 20,845
± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass
Angiospermae).

By comparison, the 2018 annual edition

of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90%
complete, for extant species in the main)
contains currently 175,363 "accepted"
genus names for 1,744,204 living and
59,284 extinct species,[20] also including
genus names only (no species) for some
groups.

Genus size
Number of reptile genera with a given number of
species. Most genera have only one or a few
species but a few may have hundreds. Based on
data from the Reptile Database (as of May 2015).

The number of species in genera varies

considerably among taxonomic groups.
For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles,
which have about 1180 genera, the most
(>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have
between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10
species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and
only 27 genera have more than 50
species. However, some insect genera
such as the bee genera Lasioglossum
and Andrena have over 1000 species
each. The largest flowering plant genus,
Astragalus, contains over 3,000
species.[21]

Which species are assigned to a genus is

somewhat arbitrary. Although all species
within a genus are supposed to be
"similar", there are no objective criteria
for grouping species into genera. There is
much debate among zoologists whether
large, species-rich genera should be
maintained, as it is extremely difficult to
come up with identification keys or even
character sets that distinguish all
species. Hence, many taxonomists argue
in favor of breaking down large genera.
For instance, the lizard genus Anolis has
been suggested to be broken down into 8
or so different genera which would bring
its ~400 species to smaller, more
manageable subsets.[22]

See also
List of the largest genera of flowering
plants

References
1. "ICTV Taxonomy" . International
Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses.
2017. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
2. Sigward, J. D.; Sutton, M. D.; Bennett,
K. D. (2018). "How big is a genus?
Towards a nomothetic
systematics" . Zoological Journal of
the Linnean Society. 183 (2): 237–
252.
doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlx059 .
3. Gill, F. B.; Slikas, B.; Sheldon, F. H.
(2005). "Phylogeny of titmice
(Paridae): II. Species relationships
based on sequences of the
mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene".
Auk. 122 (1): 121–143.
doi:10.1642/0004-
8038(2005)122[0121:POTPIS]2.0.C
O;2 .
4. de la Maza-Benignos, Mauricio;
Lozano-Vilano, Ma. de Lourdes;
García-Ramírez, María Elena
(December 2015). "Response paper:
Morphometric article by Mejía et al.
2015 alluding genera Herichthys and
Nosferatu displays serious
inconsistencies" . Neotropical
Ichthyology. 13 (4): 673–676.
doi:10.1590/1982-0224-20150066 .
5. "genus" . Merriam-Webster
Dictionary. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
6. Harper, Douglas. "genus" . Online
Etymology Dictionary.
7. Stuessy, T. F. (2009). Plant
Taxonomy: The Systematic
Evaluation of Comparative Data
(2nd ed.). New York, New York, US:
Columbia University Press. p. 42.
ISBN 9780231147125.
8. D. L. Hawksworth (2010). Terms
Used in Bionomenclature: The
Naming of Organisms and Plant
Communities : Including Terms Used
in Botanical, Cultivated Plant,
Phylogenetic, Phytosociological,
Prokaryote (bacteriological), Virus,
and Zoological Nomenclature . GBIF.
pp. 1–215. ISBN 978-87-92020-09-3.
 9. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine
Species - Physeter Linnaeus, 1758" .
www.marinespecies.org.
10. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine
Species - Pecten O. F. Müller, 1776" .
www.marinespecies.org.
11. "IRMNG: Interim Register of Marine
and Nonmarine Genera" .
www.irmng.org. Retrieved
2016-11-17.
12. Rees, Tony; Vandepitte, Leen;
Vanhoorne, Bart; Decock, Wim
(2020). "All genera of the world: an
overview and estimates based on
the March 2020 release of the
Interim Register of Marine and
Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG)" .
Megataxa. 1: 123–140.
doi:10.11646/megataxa.1.2.3 .
13. "LPSN - List of Prokaryotic names
with Standing in Nomenclature" .
www.bacterio.net.
14. "Index Fungorum Home Page" .
www.indexfungorum.org.
15. "Index Nominum Algarum: names of
algae" . ucjeps.berkeley.edu.
16. "Algaebase :: Listing the World's
Algae" . www.algaebase.org.
17. "Index Nominum Genericorum (ING),
Botany, Smithsonian Institution" .
naturalhistory2.si.edu.
18. "International Plant Names Index" .
www.ipni.org.
19. "Nomenclator Zoologicus" . ubio.org.
20. "Catalogue of Life - 2018 Annual
Checklist : 2018 Annual Checklist" .
www.catalogueoflife.org.
21. Frodin, David G. (2004). "History and
concepts of big plant genera". Taxon.
53 (3): 753–776.
doi:10.2307/4135449 .
JSTOR 4135449 .
22. Nicholson, K. E.; Crother, B. I.; Guyer,
C.; Savage, J.M. (2012). "It is time for
a new classification of anoles
(Squamata: Dactyloidae)" (PDF).
Zootaxa. 3477: 1–108.
doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3477.1.1 .

External links

Wikispecies has information related

to Genus.

Interim Register of Marine and

Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) : includes
an estimated 95% of published genus
names (accepted and unaccepted) in
all groups (semi-continuously updated)
Nomenclator Zoologicus : index of
genus and subgenus names (accepted
and unaccepted) in zoological
nomenclature from 1758 to 2004
Index to Organism Names : includes
zoological taxon names at all ranks
(including genera) as continuously
indexed for the Zoological Record
Index Nominum Genericorum (ING) : a
compilation of generic names
(accepted and unaccepted) published
for organisms covered by the ICN:
International Code of Nomenclature for
Algae, Fungi, and Plants (semi-
continuously updated)
 LPSN – List of Prokaryotic names with
Standing in Nomenclature : includes all
currently accepted Bacteria and
Archaea genus names (continuously
updated)
ICTV taxonomy releases : latest and
historical lists of accepted virus names
compiled by the International
Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
(ICTV), including all currently accepted
virus genus names (updated via
regular releases)

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