xara's initial question presents an opportunity demonstrate that I also attended biology classes - as well as chemistry whuch has been getting a mention in her other posts.
Every living thing (or that that lived once) may be categorised uniquely by their genus ( always capitalised - "Homo" in this case) and species (never capitalised - sapiens) and, if applicable, a sub species (also never capitalised - sapiens again in the example).
Genera and species are often fun and or interesting. A favourite biology quiz night question is: "What do the scientific names of gorillas and bison have in common? (A)The genus and species of each, respectively, are the same, ie Gorilla gorilla and Bison bison.
The giraffe is an interesting one for trivia buffs - its name reflects the confusion in the minds of its first Europen viewers. Believing it was a cross between a camel and a leopard, that's what's immortalised in its scientific name: Giraffa camelopardalis!
Can't leave without mentioning rhinoceros's: rhino = nose, keras/ceras = horn!!
stales
