Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Organisms/Workshop

Conforming edits to existing guidelines
The following material would not remain a part of this guideline, but rather reflects changes to make to other, pre-existing guideline pages so they do not conflict with MOS:ORGANISMS.

, the relevant guidelines still do not all agree. This draft WP:Manual of Style/Organisms necessarily follows WP:Manual of Style, because WP:Manual of Style "has precedence over its subpages". WP:Manual of Style/Capitalization nevertheless directly conflicts with the main MOS page, suggesting capitalization of common names of not just birds but some kinds of insects, despite the relevant entomological projects never even coming to a conclusion to demand this, only to not oppose it, and no discussion at WT:MOS has ever concluded with a consensus to endorse the idea.

WP:Manual of Style
When using scientific names, capitalize the genus but not the species or taxonomic rank below species if present: Berberis darwinii, Erithacus rubecula superbus. No exception is made for proper names forming part of scientific names. Higher taxa (order, family, etc.) are capitalized in Latin (Carnivora, Felidae) but not in their English equivalents (carnivorans, felids).

Common (vernacular) names are given in lower case, except where proper names appear (zebras, mountain maple, gray wolf, but Przewalski's horse). Some editors prefer to capitalize the IOC-published common names of birds (Golden Eagle) in ornithological articles; do not apply this style to other categories. Use a consistent style for common names within an article. Create redirects from alternative capitalization forms of article titles.

General names for groups or types of animals are not capitalized except were they contain a proper name (oak, bottlenose dolphins, rove beetle, Van cat).

It is proposed to change this to:

When using scientific names, capitalize the genus but not the species or taxonomic rank below species if present: Berberis darwinii, Erithacus rubecula superbus. No exception is made for proper names forming part of scientific names. Higher taxa (order, family, etc.) are capitalized in Latin (Carnivora, Felidae) but not in their English equivalents (carnivorans, felids).

Common (vernacular) names are given in lower case, except where proper names appear (bacteria, zebra, mountain maple, gray wolf, but Przewalski's horse).

General names for groupings or types of animals are not capitalized except where they contain a proper name (New World monkeys, great apes, rove beetles, Van cats).

WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters
Scientific names names including genus and species (sometimes also subspecies) have an initial capital letter for the genus, but not for the [sub]species (and, per WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting, and are always italicized): the tulip tree is Liriodendron tulipifera; all modern humans are Homo sapiens. More specifically:
 * The names of genera are always capitalized (and italicized), even when not paired with a species name: Turdus, Falco, Anas.
 * The second part of a binomial species name is never capitalized, even when derived from a proper name (but always italicized), and is always preceded by either the genus name, or a capitalized abbreviation of it if the full version has occurred previously in the same text: Thomson's gazelle is Eudorcas thomsonii or E. thomsonii. The same applies to the third part of a trinomial name: the arctic wolf is Canis lupus arctos or C. l. arctos

Orders, families and other taxonomic ranks above genus level have an initial capital letter (and are not italicized): bats belong to the order Chiroptera; rats and mice are members of the family Muridae and the order Rodentia. However, there is generally an English form for a member of the grouping, derived from the Latin name, and is bit capitalised (nor italicized): members of the order Chiroptera are chiropters; members of the family Muridae are murids and members of the order Rodentia are rodents.

Lower-case initial letters are used for each part of the common (vernacular) names of species, genera, families and all other taxonomic levels, except where they contain a proper name, such as the name of a person or place (Przewalski's horse, Amur tiger, Roosevelt elk), or of course when such a name starts a sentence (Black bears eat white suckers and blueberries).

For specific groupings of organisms, wikiprojects on these topics have arrived at a local consensus to propose the following specific rules of capitalization based on current and historic usage among those who study the organisms:

Do not apply such capitalization outside these categories.
 * Common names of bird species or subspecies as published by the International Ornithological Congress or regional nomenclature authorities have normally been capitalized in ornithology articles, with lower case used for common names of groups of species (the Golden Eagle is a relatively large eagle)
 * Common names of dragonflies, and of moths and butterflies, may be capitalized in articles on Odonata and Lepidoptera, respectively.

In a capitalized hyphenated name, the word after the hyphen is normally not capitalized, if not a proper name, per basic English grammar rules (Red-winged Blackbird, not Red-Winged Blackbird). There are rare exceptions in bird naming which can be complicated (e.g., if the hyphen separates two bird type names, as in "Sunda Cuckoo-shrike", whether or not the species in question is a member of the grouping after the hyphen may determine whether that part of the name is capitalized or remains hyphenated), and WP:BIRDS has more information on what rules apply and how. If in doubt, check with encyclopedic works on the topic or scholarly literature.

Create redirects from alternative capitalization forms of article titles. Use a consistent style of capitalization in all articles, including those covering two or more taxonomic groups.

The common name of a group of species or type of organism is always written in lower case (except where a proper name occurs):
 * New World monkeys, rove beetle, slime mold, great apes, mountain dog

This also applies to an individual creature of indeterminate species.

It is proposed to change this to:

Scientific names have an initial capital letter for the genus, but not for lower taxonomic ranks (species, subspecies), even when derived from a proper name (and are always italicized): the tulip tree is Liriodendron tulipifera; all modern humans are Homo sapiens. Ranks above genus (orders, families, etc.) have an initial capital letter (and are not italicized): rats and mice are members of the family Muridae and the order Rodentia. The common English equivalents are not capitalised (nor italicized): members of the family Muridae are murids and members of the order Rodentia are rodents.

Common (vernacular) names' use a lower-case initial letters for each part of the names at all taxonomic levels (bacteria, zebra, mountain maple, gray wolf), except where they contain a proper name, such as the name of a person or place (Przewalski's horse, Amur tiger, Roosevelt elk), or of course when such a name starts a sentence (Black bears eat white suckers and blueberries).

Some editors prefer to capitalize the IOC-published common names of birds (Golden Eagle) in ornithological articles; do not apply this style to other categories. In a capitalized hyphenated name, the word after the hyphen is normally not capitalized, if not a proper name, per basic English grammar rules (Red-winged Blackbird, not Red-Winged Blackbird). There are rare exceptions in bird naming which can be complicated. If in doubt, check with encyclopedic works on the topic or scholarly literature. Use a consistent style of capitalization in all articles, including those covering two or more taxonomic groupings. Create redirects from alternative capitalization forms of article titles.

Terms for groupings or types of organism are always written in lower case (except where a proper name occurs): New World monkeys, slime molds, rove beetles, great apes, mountain dogs.

WP:Manual of Style/Lead section
Organisms

When a common (vernacular) name is used as the article title, the boldfaced common name is followed by the italic un-boldfaced scientific name in round parentheses in the opening sentence of the lead section. Alternative names should be mentioned and reliably sourced in the text where applicable, with bold type in the lead if they are in wide use, or elsewhere in the article (with or without the bold type, per editorial discretion) if they are less used. It is not necessary to include non-English common names, unless they are also commonly used in English, e.g. regionally; if included, they should be italicized as non-English.
 * Thomson's gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) is the most common gazelle of East Africa ...
 * Grunters or tigerperches are fishes in the family Terapontidae ...
 * The rove beetles are a large family (Staphylinidae) of beetles ...

When the article title is the scientific name, reverse the order of the scientific and common name(s) (if any of the latter are given), and boldface as well as italicize the scientific name. Brassica oleracea is the species of plant that includes many common foods as cultivars, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, savoy, and Chinese kale ...
 * Vitis vinifera (common grape vine) is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia ...

It is proposed to change this to:

Organisms

When a common (vernacular) name is used as the article title, the boldfaced common name is followed by the italic un-boldfaced scientific name in round parentheses in the opening sentence of the lead section:
 * Thomson's gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii) is the most common gazelle of East Africa ...
 * Grunters or tigerperches are fishes in the family Terapontidae ...
 * The rove beetles are a large family (Staphylinidae) of beetles ...

Alternative names should be mentioned and reliably sourced in the text where applicable

When the article title is the scientific name, reverse the order of the scientific and common name(s) (if any of the latter are given), italicize the scientific name, and boldface both. Brassica oleracea is the species of plant that includes many common foods as cultivars, including cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, savoy, and Chinese kale ...
 * Vitis vinifera (common grape vine) is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, central Europe, and southwestern Asia ...

WP:Naming conventions (fauna)
Capitalisation of article titles follows general Manual of Style guidance on the use of capital letters.

Articles at the common (vernacular) names of animals are normally titled in sentence case &mdash; for example, Przewalski's horse, Black bear. These are never italicised.

Some wikiprojects have arrived at local consensus to always capitalise the common names of bird species (and subspecies) in ornithology articles, and to permit but not require upper-casing of species of dragonflies, and of moths and butterflies in articles on Odonata and Lepidoptera, respectively. Do not apply such capitalisation outside these categories.

In a capitalised hyphenated name, the word after the hyphen is normally not capitalised, unless a proper name. See WP:WikiProject Birds for exceptions, which can be complicated.

When creating a new article (or moving an existing one), make a redirect to it from the alternative capitalisation. For example, if you name the article Bald Eagle, create a redirect to it from Bald eagle or vice versa (many field guides capitalise, and most other sorts of writing do not, so we have to account for both styles). Creating the redirect is optional. There are some rare instances where lower case and capitalised versions have different meanings. Suitable links or disambiguation should then be used.

The common name of a group of species, or an individual creature of indeterminate species, is not capitalised beyond the first word in article titles (except where a proper name occurs): Bottlenose dolphin, New World monkey Rove beetle, Slime mold.

The second part of a binomial species name is never capitalised (even when derived from a proper name): Ninox novaeseelandiae versus Ninox Novaeseelandiae. The same applies to the third part of a trinomial name: Canis lupus arctos.

Because scientific names are always italicised, per WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting, when the article title is a genus or lower-ranked taxonomic name (e.g. species or subspecies), the page title should also be italicised.

There are three ways to accomplish this:
 * will render the page title in italic, except any word in parentheses, e.g.:
 * Ninox
 * Morelia (snake).


 * can be used for titles that require manual formatting, e.g.
 * result:
 * Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae
 * Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae


 * Using one of the display templates of the automatic taxobox system, such as or, in most cases will automatically italicise the title if it matches the taxon name and the taxon is genus-level or lower.

No changes are recommended other than fixing cross-references: and changing "per WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting" to "per WP:Manual of Style/Organisms".

Manual of Style/Titles
Italic type (text like this) is generally used for the following categories of titles:


 * Certain scientific names
 * Genes (but not proteins encoded by genes)
 * Genus and all lower taxa (including species and subspecies), but not higher taxa. The entire scientific name should be italicized, except where an author, "cf.", or some other interpolation is included in or appended to the name. (See WP:MOSTEXT §Scientific names for details.)

[...]

It is proposed to change this to:

Italic type (text like this) is generally used for the following categories of titles:


 * Certain scientific names
 * Genes (but not proteins encoded by genes)
 * Genus and all lower taxonomic ranks (including species and subspecies), but not higher taxa (except the rarely-used supergenus). The entire scientific name should be italicized, except where an author, "cf.", "subsp.", "var.", "×", or some other interpolation is included in or appended to the name. (See WP:Manual of Style/Organisms for details.)

[...]

Manual of Style/Text formatting
Scientific names of organisms are formatted according to normal taxonomic nomenclature.
 * Do not italicize (but do capitalize) taxa higher than genus.
 * Italicize all lower ranks (taxa): genus (capitalized), subgenus (capitalized), species, subspecies.
 * Names of genera are always italicized (and capitalized), even when not paired with a species name: Allosaurus, Falco, Anas.
 * The entire binomial or trinomial scientific name is italicized, whether given in full or abbreviated: (Liriodendron tulipifera, N. v. piaropicola).
 * Interpolations such as "cf." or "×" are not italicized: Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae, the chaussie is a hybrid cat (Felis catus × F. chaus).
 * Parenthetic expressions should not be italicized unless part of the scientific name, as in the case of a subgenus, which is always italicized, though the parentheses (round brackets) are not: Potentilla (Sibbaldiopsis) tridentata.
 * Do not italicize author names juxtaposed with scientific names: Subgenus Potentilla Syme and subgenus Hypargyrium (Fourr.) Juz. have been combined under subgenus Potentilla Syme.

Derived uses in non-biological contexts are not italicized: The largest carnivore in family Tyrannosauridae was T. rex itself, but Unicorn was an album by the band T. Rex.

Although derived from Latin (and often Ancient Greek), scientific names are never marked up with or related templates.

It is proposed to change this to:

Scientific names of organisms are formatted according to formal taxonomic nomenclature.
 * Do not italicize (but do capitalize) taxa higher than genus (except the rarely used supergenus).
 * Italicize all lower ranks (taxa): genus (capitalized), subgenus (capitalized), species, subspecies.
 * Names of genera are always italicized and capitalized, even when not paired with a species name: Allosaurus, Falco, Anas.
 * The entire binomial or trinomial scientific name is italicized, whether given in full or abbreviated: (Liriodendron tulipifera, N. v. piaropicola)
 * Interpolations such as "cf." or "×" are not italicized: Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae, the chaussie is a hybrid cat (Felis catus × F. chaus)
 * Parenthetic expressions should not be italicized unless part of the scientific name, as in the case of a subgenus, which is always italicized, though the parentheses (round brackets) are not: Potentilla (Sibbaldiopsis) tridentata
 * Do not italicize author names juxtaposed with scientific names: Subgenus Potentilla Syme and subgenus Hypargyrium (Fourr.) Juz. have been combined under subgenus Potentilla Syme

Derived uses in non-biological contexts are not italicized: The largest carnivore in family Tyrannosauridae was T. rex itself, but Unicorn was an album by the band T. Rex.

Although derived from Latin (and often Ancient Greek), scientific names are never marked up with or related templates.