In binomial nomenclature, what is the term for the first part of the scientific name?

• A. Species epithet
• B. Genus
• C. Family
• D. Order

Answer: (B)

In binomial nomenclature, a two-part name is used to identify a species. The first part denotes the genus—the group of closely related species— and is always capitalized. The second part is the species epithet (also called the specific epithet), which identifies the particular species within that genus and is usually lowercase. Together, they form the unique scientific name.

For example, in Homo sapiens, Homo is the genus and sapiens is the species epithet. So the first part of the scientific name is the genus.

The other terms refer to different levels or parts of the name: the species epithet is the second part, and family and order are higher taxonomic ranks that aren’t used in the two-part name.