This section provides some basic editorial advice on the following issues relating to the structure and function of plants and animals.
Animal and human anatomy
International standards and resources
Anatomical terms for domestic animals are defined by the International Committee on Veterinary Gross Anatomical Nomenclature of the World Association of Veterinary Anatomists (WAVA) and published in Nomina anatomica veterinaria(Opens in a new tab/window).
Avian anatomical terms are defined by the WAVA International Committee on Avian Anatomical Nomenclature and published in the Handbook of avian anatomy: nomina anatomica avium(Opens in a new tab/window).
Human anatomical terms were defined by the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology and the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists, and published in Terminologia anatomica(Opens in a new tab/window).
Australian conventions and resources
Australian usage follows international standards. Neither the Australasian Institute of Anatomical Sciences nor the Australian and New Zealand Association of Clinical Anatomists lists any specific Australian sources or conventions.
Anatomical classification
Anatomical classification for animals (including humans) uses sets of Latin terms similar to those used for genus and species names. Basic binomial anatomical names consist of the name of the type of structure (e.g. ‘arterium’, ‘os’ [bone], ‘musculus’) and at least 1 descriptor of that entity (e.g. ‘femoralis’, ‘rectus’). Several additional descriptors are often added to show the position and orientation of the body part (e.g. ‘externus’, ‘dorsi’, ‘descendens’). Do not italicise or capitalise any of the Latin words:
arterium femoralis os femoralis musculus transversus abdominis
However, when the structural group is abbreviated (using Latin singular and plural formats), use an initial capital followed by a full stop:
arterium (A.), arteria (Aa.) ligamentum (Lig.), ligamenta (Ligg.)
musculum (M.), musculi (Mm.)
The superficial pectoral muscles (Mm. pectorales superficiales) comprise descending and transverse muscles (M. pectoralis descendens, M. pectoralis transversus).
Did you know? Latin terms follow the rules for Latin grammar (e.g. for nominative and genitive case, singular, plural). See Nomina anatomica veterinaria(Opens in a new tab/window) (pages xiii to xvii) for an explanation of these word endings.
Os (bone) is never abbreviated.
In most texts, the Latin names are replaced by common names. British spelling is preferred for common names in Australian texts. Use an initial capital only for proper nouns:
femoral artery femur transverse abdominal muscle Achilles tendon
Postmortem examination
The procedure of examining a body after death is called a postmortem (or postmortem examination), autopsy or, in the case of nonhuman animals, necropsy. We recommend using postmortem in all cases (for both humans and nonhuman animals).
Embryology
International standards and resources
The International Federation of Associations of Anatomists publishes the official list of terminology(Opens in a new tab/window) for human embryology.
The World Association of Veterinary Anatomists publishes embryology terminology for animals in Nomina embryologica veterinaria(Opens in a new tab/window).
Australian conventions and resources
The National Health and Medical Research Council has published Ethical guidelines on the use of assisted reproductive technology(Opens in a new tab/window).
Fetus
Note that fetus and fetal are preferred spellings in Australia (and also in the United Kingdom), not foetus or foetal:
British Maternal and Fetal Medicine Society Fetal Medicine Unit (Canberra Hospital)
New South Wales Fetal Therapy Centre fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
This is in contrast with faeces and faecal, which retain the ae spelling (compared with feces and fecal in the United States).
Did you know? The spelling foetus is probably based on false analogy with words such as oedema and oestrogen. Fetus (which is a Latin word) is preferred in the medical literature, including in Australian medical journals and fetal medicine organisations.
Histology
In histology, slices of biological tissue or cells are stained to provide contrast and highlight interesting features under a light or electron microscope.
International standards and resources
The World Association of Veterinary Anatomists publishes histology terminology for animals in Nomina histologica veterinaria(Opens in a new tab/window).
Stains
Haematoxylin and eosin stain (H&E stain; sometimes referred to as HE stain) is the most commonly used stain for light microscopy in histology and histopathology. Hematoxylin, a basic dye, stains nuclei blue; eosin, an acidic dye, stains the cytoplasm pink. Erythrocytes appear red.
Stain names are lower case unless they are named after a person, in which case a possessive s is not used:
toluidine blue orcein stain Masson trichrome stain Wright stain
Some stain names are commonly abbreviated:
periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) stain [also note the en dash in this name]
Bacterial staining
Gram staining, or Gram method, is used to differentiate bacteria into 2 main groups – those with and those without a thick cell wall. Crystal violet is used to stain the bacteria; those with a thick cell wall retain the dye (positive), whereas those without this type of cell wall do not retain the dye (negative). A counterstain – usually safranin or fuchsine – is also used to colour both bacteria types.
Did you know? Gram staining is named after a Danish physician and bacteriologist, Hans Christian Gram, who discovered, in 1884, that crystal violet stains some bacteria but can be washed out from others.
Use an initial capital when referring to the stain or method, but lower case for adjectival (eponymic) forms:
Gram stain gram-negative bacteria
Microscopy
Names of microscopic techniques and equipment are not capitalised even if abbreviated to capital letters:
To show magnification, use a multiplication symbol (not the letter x) after the number (no space):
7,500× 10×
Plant structure
Australian conventions and resources
FloraBase(Opens in a new tab/window) (the website of the Western Australian Herbarium) and Flora Online(Opens in a new tab/window) (maintained by the National Herbarium of New South Wales) both have glossaries of botanical terms.
Different types of plant structures are described in different ways. For example, leaf types are classified by shape, arrangement, vein pattern, margin shape, texture and colour.
Each leaf type has an anglicised name and a Latin name. Use lower case for both names and italics for Latin names (but note that Latin names are rarely used in modern science texts):
bipinnate [Latin: bipinnata] filiform [filiformis] round [rotunda]
See Special cases of compound words for how to use compound words to describe the colours of organisms.