Question

The scientific name of banyan is written as Ficus benghalensis L. Which of the following statements is correct regarding this?
A. Letter L. signifies Latin language
B. The name should be written reverse with benghalensis preceding Ficus
C. Letter L. Signifies the taxonomist Linnaeus
D. benghalensis is a generic name

Answer 1

Hint: Binomial nomenclature is the naming of organisms in a scientific way. The meaning of the word residues in the name itself is made up of two terms Genus and Species. There are different protocols and rules by which organisms are named given by Carl Linnaeus.

Complete answer:
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician who formalized binomial nomenclature. He is the father of modern taxonomy. There are different rules and principles formulated by different biologists around the world for the naming of organisms.
There are two international codes in which all the biologists agree around the world for the naming purpose. They are as follows:
-International Code of Botanical Nomenclature: It deals with the biological nomenclature for plants.
-International Code of Zoological Nomenclature: It deals with the biological nomenclature of animals.

The naming contains different conventions. Each scientific name has two parts:
-Generic name: It represents the first word of a scientific name, which describes the genus the organism belongs to.
-Specific epithet: It is the second word of a scientific name in binary nomenclature which tells the species.

From the above question we know that in binomial nomenclature, the first or generic word begins with the capital letter while the second word or specific epithet starts with a small letter. The name of the taxonomist comes after the specific epithet i.e found at the last of the biological name and is written in short form.
Example: The scientific name of banyan is Ficus benghalensis. The word Ficus represents the genus and the word benghalensis represents a particular species.
Ficus benghalensi L. denotes that this species was first formulated by Linnaeus.
In botany and zoology, the short form L. is used to show Linnaeus for a species name.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note: Nomenclature and Taxonomy both are not the same words but they both words are related with each other. Nomenclature is a part of taxonomy as it includes the genus and species taxons.