Cofty, for your attention. Thanks again to Wikipedia under "species" and "genus" for those that are interested. There's a nice diagram, but I am unable to reproduce it. If there's a random crossing between "family", "genus" and "species" you would have a "big buggerup" (Armageddon in Pidgin English):
The hierarchy of biological classification 's eight major taxonomic ranks , which is an example of definition by genus and differentia . A genus contains one or more species. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.
In biology , a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank . A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are often used, such as similarity of DNA, morphology or ecological niche. Presence of specific locally adapted traits may further subdivide species into subspecies .
Species that are believed to have the same ancestors are grouped together, and this group is called a genus . A species can only belong to one genus that it was grouped into. The belief is best checked by a similarity of their DNA , but for practical reasons, other similar properties are used. For plants similarities of flowers are used. All species are given a two part name (a "binomial name"). The first part of a binomial name is the generic name , the genus of the species. The second part is either the specific name (a term used only in zoology, never in botany, for the second part of a binomial) or the specific epithet (the term always used in botany, which can also be used in zoology). For example, Boa constrictor, which is commonly called by its binomial name, and is one of four species of the Boa genus. The first part of the name is capitalized, and the second part has a lower case. The two part name is written in italics.
A usable definition of the word "species" and reliable methods of identifying particular species are essential for stating and testing biological theories and for measuring biodiversity , though other taxonomic levels such as families may be considered in broad scale studies. [1] Extinct species known only from fossils are generally difficult to assign precise taxonomic rankings, which is why higher taxonomic levels such as families are often used for fossil based studies. [1][2]
The total number of non-bacterial species in the world has been estimated at 8.7 million, [3] with previous estimates ranging from two million to 100 million. [4]
In biology , a genus (plural: genera) is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossilorganisms , which is an example of definition by genus and differentia . Genera and higher taxonomic levels such as families are used in biodiversity studies, particularly in fossil studies since species cannot always be confidently identified and genera and families typically have longer stratigraphic ranges than species. [1]
The term comes from Latin genus "descent, family, type, gender", [2] cognate with Greek : γ?νο ς – genos, "race, stock, kin". [3]
The hierarchy of biological classification 's eight major taxonomic ranks , which is an example of definition by genus and differentia . A family contains one or more genera. Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.
The composition of a genus is determined by a taxonomist . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. In the hierarchy of the binomial classification system, genus comes above species and below family .
Life
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species