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(Opens in a new tab/window) (the Zoological Code).
Apart from the Catalogue of Life(Opens in a new tab/window), useful online resources for animal names include:
- Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes(Opens in a new tab/window) (Latin names)
- FishBase(Opens in a new tab/window) (Latin and common names)
- WoRMS(Opens in a new tab/window) (World Register of Marine Species) (Latin and common names)
- IOC (International Ornithologists’ Committee) World Bird List(Opens in a new tab/window) (Latin and common names).
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
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.]
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.
Common animal names
Common names of animals follow the general principles described in 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]
The biological definition of a fish is a vertebrate animal with gills and fins (also called true fish or finfish). Many other aquatic animals also have common names ending in fish (e.g. shellfish). In these cases, the names are set solid:
shellfish cuttlefish jellyfish starfish
In fisheries terminology, however, other aquatic animals that are harvested for food (including molluscs and crustaceans) are also referred to as ‘fish’.
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 (e.g. 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.
Livestock species names
Caution! Use the Integrated Taxonomic Information System Catalogue of Life(Opens in a new tab/window) to check the current species and subspecies classification of domestic livestock, because changes occur regularly.
Livestock species names follow the rules described in Names of organisms.
Breed and common names
International standards and resources
For common names, consult standard veterinary and medical dictionaries, such as Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary and Black’s veterinary dictionary.
Australian conventions and resources
We have not found an ‘official’ source of Australian livestock breeds.
The New South Wales Department of Primary Industries has lists of breeds(Opens in a new tab/window) of different species of livestock.
Many livestock species have been extensively bred to create animals with specific characteristics. In most general texts, use lower case for breed names (apart from proper nouns that form part of the name):
Cattle: Guernsey Jersey Murray grey poll Hereford shorthorn
Sheep: English Leicester Romney Marsh poll merino dorper
Chickens: Australorp Plymouth Rock silkie leghorn
However, note that publications of livestock breeders may require initial capitals for formal breed names, but not group names:
Poll Merino Peppin Merino but merinos
Silkie Belgium Bantam but bantams
Did you know? Cow is in common informal use as a singular noun for cattle, despite its more precise female-specific use, especially when the sex is unknown or irrelevant (e.g. a paddock of cows). This use is recognised by some dictionaries but not by either the Macquarie dictionary or the Australian Oxford dictionary, and so should not be used in formal or technical writing.
Note that cattle is a plural noun, and there is no singular noun in English:
3 cattle some cattle the cattle were … not the cattle was …
Sex- and age-specific terms can be used as singular nouns:
cow bull steer heifer
Unlike cattle, sheep is both singular and plural:
1 sheep was … 2 sheep were …
Caution! Appropriate capitalisation for breed names is a confusing area.