Animal names

This section covers:

International standards and resources

In zoology, the formation and presentation of animal names follow the rules set out in the International code of zoological nomenclature (the Zoological Code).

Apart from the Catalogue of Life, useful online resources for animal names include:

Australian conventions and resources

The naming of animals in Australia complies with the international codes.

Lists of Latin and common names for Australian taxa are:

Higher taxonomic animal names

Names are not regulated above the rank of family.

Family names end with the suffix idae:

Felidae     Homididae

For higher taxonomic groups (family and above), use an initial capital but no italics:

Mammalia     Marsupialia     Rodentia     Muridae

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Authors of animal names

The author of a name is not part of the name of a taxon, and its citation is optional in most types of publications. Author names should be used in a formal taxonomic publication, and the Zoological Code recommends inclusion of the author with names of genera and lower ranks. Family names of authors are not usually abbreviated; they are followed by a comma and the year of publication:

Petaurus breviceps Waterhouse, 1839

Petrogale coenensis Eldridge & Close, 1992

[Do not replace the & with and; et can be used instead of &.]

Antechinus agilis Dickman, Parnaby, Crowther & King, 1998   or   Antechinus agilis Dickman et al, 1998

[If there are 3 or more authors, the name of the first author may be followed with et al.]

Acrobates pygmaeus (Shaw, 1794)

[Didelphis pygmaea Shaw, 1794 was transferred to the genus Acrobates; author of original name is retained in parentheses but author who made the change is not added.]

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Infraspecific animal names

Subspecies is the lowest rank dealt with by the Zoological Code. The rank ‘subsp.’ is not included in the name:

Vulpes vulpes karagan [karagan is a subspecies of Vulpes vulpes]   not   Vulpes vulpes subsp. karagan

Names at lower levels, such as variety and form, may be used, but presentation of the names is not regulated by the Zoological Code.

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Common animal names

Common names of animals follow the principles described in General principles for common names.

In addition, when an insect common name has 2 parts, the second part is separate if it is taxonomically correct:

striped dung fly [a true fly] 

but is joined to a preceding modifier when it is not:

Blue Mountains firefly [a beetle, not a true fly]     ladybird [a beetle, not a true bird]     butterfly [not a true fly]

Common names that end in worm, based on the larval form of insects, are formed in the same way:

beet webworm [not a true worm – that is, not an annelid]

See Aquatic species names for further information about fish names. 

Terms to watch out for:

fish, fishes

See all terms

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Animal breeds

In most general texts, use lower case for animal breed names, except for proper nouns:

Labrador retriever [dog]     golden retriever [dog]    exotic shorthair [cat]     Burmese [cat] 

However, formal breed names often have initial capitals in publications in a specific field (eg dog or breeding associations, kennel clubs), but not for generic groups:

Exotic Shorthair     American Shorthair   but   shorthairs
Cavalier King Charles Spaniel     Springer Spaniel   but   spaniels

Check with your authors and publishers, and maintain consistency. 

See Livestock for further information on livestock breed names.

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