Question mark
In addition to its use to indicate interrogation, the question mark is used to indicate:
- uncertainty in dates
1635?–1690
- unknown alleles
Rps? (Harosoy) [an allele at an unknown locus]
AP-? (T160) [an unknown allele at the Ap locus]
Exclamation mark
In addition to its use to indicate strong feelings, an exclamation mark is used in science:
- in botanical writing to indicate that the author has seen a designated specimen in a herbarium
Holotype: MEL! [specimen at Melbourne seen]
Isolectotypes: HO!, K. [specimen at Hobart seen, specimen at Kew not seen]
- in maths as a factorial symbol
3! [means 3 × 2 × 1]