Ace the GMAS Biology Challenge 2026 – Dive into Science Success!

In binomial nomenclature, names are two words that together identify a species. The first word is the genus, and the second word is the species epithet, which designates the particular species within that genus. This two-part name uniquely identifies an organism. For example, in Homo sapiens, Homo is the genus and sapiens is the species epithet; other species in the genus Homo have different epithets (like Homo neanderthalensis). The epithet by itself doesn’t identify a species—the genus is needed to specify which group the organism belongs to.