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66-470: For genera , see text . Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae , a family in the infraorder Scincomorpha . With more than 1,500 described species across 100 different taxonomic genera, the family Scincidae is one of the most diverse families of lizards. Skinks are characterized by their smaller legs in comparison to typical lizards and are found in different habitats except arctic and subarctic regions. The word skink , which entered

132-652: A facultative carnivore from an omnivore . Obligate or "true" carnivores are those whose diet requires nutrients found only in animal flesh in the wild. While obligate carnivores might be able to ingest small amounts of plant matter, they lack the necessary physiology required to fully digest it. Some obligate carnivorous mammals will ingest vegetation as an emetic , a food that upsets their stomachs, to self-induce vomiting. Obligate carnivores are diverse. The amphibian axolotl consumes mainly worms and larvae in its environment, but if necessary will consume algae. All wild felids , including feral domestic cats , require

198-699: A bite and then swallow it whole. Despite being voracious hunters at times, all species pose no threat to humans and will generally avoid interaction in the wild. Being neither poisonous or venomous, their bites are also mild and minor. Skinks are generally carnivorous and in particular insectivorous . Typical prey include flies , crickets , grasshoppers , beetles , and caterpillars . Various species also eat earthworms , millipedes , centipedes , snails , slugs , isopods ( woodlice etc), moths, small lizards (including geckos ), and small rodents . Some species, particularly those favored as home pets, are omnivorous and have more varied diets and can be maintained on

264-534: A diet of primarily animal flesh and organs. Specifically, cats have high protein requirements and their metabolisms appear unable to synthesize essential nutrients such as retinol , arginine , taurine , and arachidonic acid ; thus, in nature, they must consume flesh to supply these nutrients. Characteristics commonly associated with carnivores include strength, speed, and keen senses for hunting, as well as teeth and claws for capturing and tearing prey. However, some carnivores do not hunt and are scavengers , lacking

330-511: A form of endosymbiosis , might have led to symbiogenesis that gave rise to eukaryotes and eukaryotic autotrophs such as green and red algae . The earliest predators were microorganisms , which engulfed and "swallowed" other smaller cells (i.e. phagocytosis ) and digested them internally . Because the earliest fossil record is poor, these first predators could date back anywhere between 1 and over 2.7  bya (billion years ago). The rise of eukaryotic cells at around 2.7 bya,

396-491: A general rule, the longer the digits, the more arboreal the species is likely to be. A biological ratio can determine the ecological niche of a given skink species. The Scincidae ecological niche index (SENI) is a ratio based on anterior foot length at the junction of the ulna/radius-carpal bones to the longest digit divided by the snout-to-vent length . Most species of skinks have long, tapering tails they can shed if predators grab onto them. Such species generally can regenerate

462-407: A genus is determined by taxonomists . The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: Moreover, genera should be composed of phylogenetic units of

528-639: A great diversity of eutherian carnivores in the northern continents and Africa . In South America , sparassodonts were dominant, while Australia saw the presence of several marsupial predators, such as the dasyuromorphs and thylacoleonids . From the Miocene to the present, the dominant carnivorous mammals have been carnivoramorphs . Most carnivorous mammals, from dogs to deltatheridiums , share several dental adaptations, such as carnassialiforme teeth, long canines and even similar tooth replacement patterns. Most aberrant are thylacoleonids , with

594-651: A later homonym of a validly published name is a nomen illegitimum or nom. illeg. ; for a full list refer to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and the work cited above by Hawksworth, 2010. In place of the "valid taxon" in zoology, the nearest equivalent in botany is " correct name " or "current name" which can, again, differ or change with alternative taxonomic treatments or new information that results in previously accepted genera being combined or split. Prokaryote and virus codes of nomenclature also exist which serve as

660-628: A long time and redescribed as new by a range of subsequent workers, or if a range of genera previously considered separate taxa have subsequently been consolidated into one. For example, the World Register of Marine Species presently lists 8 genus-level synonyms for the sperm whale genus Physeter Linnaeus, 1758, and 13 for the bivalve genus Pecten O.F. Müller, 1776. Within the same kingdom, one generic name can apply to one genus only. However, many names have been assigned (usually unintentionally) to two or more different genera. For example,

726-460: A microscope, all major skink lineages share an old XY system that is over 80 million years old. These X and Y specific regions are highly divergent and contain multiple chromosomal rearrangements and repetitive sequences. Many genera, Mabuya for example, are still insufficiently studied, and their systematics are at times controversial, see for example the taxonomy of the western skink , Plestiodon skiltonianus . Mabuya in particular,

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792-557: A purely reptilian placenta directly comparable in structure and function, to a eutherian placenta. Clearly, such vivipary repeatedly has developed independently in the evolutionary history of the Scincidae and the different examples are not ancestral to the others. In particular, placental development of whatever degree in lizards is phylogenetically analogous , rather than homologous , to functionally similar processes in mammals. Skinks typically seek out environments protected from

858-409: A reference for designating currently accepted genus names as opposed to others which may be either reduced to synonymy, or, in the case of prokaryotes, relegated to a status of "names without standing in prokaryotic nomenclature". An available (zoological) or validly published (botanical) name that has been historically applied to a genus but is not regarded as the accepted (current/valid) name for

924-439: A regimen of roughly 60% vegetables/leaves/fruit and 40% meat (insects and rodents). Species of the genus Tristiidon are mainly frugivorous, but occasionally eat moss and insects. Although most species of skinks are oviparous , laying eggs in clutches, some 45% of skink species are viviparous in one sense or another. Many species are ovoviviparous , the young (skinklets) developing lecithotrophically in eggs that hatch inside

990-427: A taxon; however, the names published in suppressed works are made unavailable via the relevant Opinion dealing with the work in question. In botany, similar concepts exist but with different labels. The botanical equivalent of zoology's "available name" is a validly published name . An invalidly published name is a nomen invalidum or nom. inval. ; a rejected name is a nomen rejiciendum or nom. rej. ;

1056-455: A total of c. 520,000 published names (including synonyms) as at end 2019, increasing at some 2,500 published generic names per year. "Official" registers of taxon names at all ranks, including genera, exist for a few groups only such as viruses and prokaryotes, while for others there are compendia with no "official" standing such as Index Fungorum for fungi, Index Nominum Algarum and AlgaeBase for algae, Index Nominum Genericorum and

1122-653: Is being split, many species being allocated to new genera such as Trachylepis , Chioninia , and Eutropis . Subfamily Acontinae (limbless skinks; 30 species in 2 genera) Subfamily Egerniinae (social skinks; 63 species in 9 genera) Subfamily Eugongylinae (eugongylid skinks; 455 species in 50 genera) Subfamily Lygosominae (lygosomid skinks; 56 species in 6 genera) Subfamily Mabuyinae (mabuyid skinks; 226 species in 25 genera) Subfamily Sphenomorphinae (sphenomorphid skinks; 591 species in 41 genera) Subfamily Scincinae (typical skinks; 294 species in 35 genera) Genus The composition of

1188-612: Is discouraged by both the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , there are some five thousand such names in use in more than one kingdom. For instance, A list of generic homonyms (with their authorities), including both available (validly published) and selected unavailable names, has been compiled by the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG). The type genus forms

1254-460: Is somewhat arbitrary. Although all species within a genus are supposed to be "similar", there are no objective criteria for grouping species into genera. There is much debate among zoologists about whether enormous, species-rich genera should be maintained, as it is extremely difficult to come up with identification keys or even character sets that distinguish all species. Hence, many taxonomists argue in favor of breaking down large genera. For instance,

1320-937: Is termed an apex predator , regardless of whether it is an obligate or facultative carnivore. In captivity or domestic settings, obligate carnivores like cats and crocodiles can, in principle, get all their required nutrients from processed food made from plant and synthetic sources. Outside the animal kingdom, there are several genera containing carnivorous plants (predominantly insectivores) and several phyla containing carnivorous fungi (preying mostly on microscopic invertebrates , such as nematodes , amoebae , and springtails ). Carnivores are sometimes characterized by their type of prey . For example, animals that eat mainly insects and similar terrestrial arthropods are called insectivores , while those that eat mainly soft-bodied invertebrates are called vermivores . Those that eat mainly fish are called piscivores . Carnivores may alternatively be classified according to

1386-474: Is the type species , and the generic name is permanently associated with the type specimen of its type species. Should the specimen turn out to be assignable to another genus, the generic name linked to it becomes a junior synonym and the remaining taxa in the former genus need to be reassessed. In zoological usage, taxonomic names, including those of genera, are classified as "available" or "unavailable". Available names are those published in accordance with

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1452-623: The Cambrian substrate revolution led to increased active predation among animals, likely triggering various evolutionary arms races that contributed to the rapid diversification during the Cambrian explosion . Radiodont arthropods , which produced the first apex predators such as Anomalocaris , quickly became the dominant carnivores of the Cambrian sea. After their decline due to the Cambrian-Ordovician extinction event ,

1518-621: The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature ; the earliest such name for any taxon (for example, a genus) should then be selected as the " valid " (i.e., current or accepted) name for the taxon in question. Consequently, there will be more available names than valid names at any point in time; which names are currently in use depending on the judgement of taxonomists in either combining taxa described under multiple names, or splitting taxa which may bring available names previously treated as synonyms back into use. "Unavailable" names in zoology comprise names that either were not published according to

1584-824: The International Plant Names Index for plants in general, and ferns through angiosperms, respectively, and Nomenclator Zoologicus and the Index to Organism Names for zoological names. Totals for both "all names" and estimates for "accepted names" as held in the Interim Register of Marine and Nonmarine Genera (IRMNG) are broken down further in the publication by Rees et al., 2020 cited above. The accepted names estimates are as follows, broken down by kingdom: The cited ranges of uncertainty arise because IRMNG lists "uncertain" names (not researched therein) in addition to known "accepted" names;

1650-431: The Miocene . Skink genera known from fossils include the following: A trait apparent in many species of skink is digging and burrowing. Many spend their time underground where they are mostly safe from predators, sometimes even digging out tunnels for easy navigation. They also use their tongues to sniff the air and track their prey. When they encounter their prey, they chase it down until they corner it or manage to land

1716-497: The Solomon Islands skink ( Corucia zebrata ) is the largest known extant species and may attain a snout-to-vent length of some 35 cm (14 in). Skinks can often hide easily in their habitat because of their protective colouring (camouflage). Skinks in the genus Prasinohaema have green blood because of a buildup of the waste product biliverdin . The oldest known skink is Electroscincus zedi described from

1782-423: The lobe-finned fish , became the dominant carnivores of freshwater wetlands formed by early land plants . Some of these fish became better adapted for breathing air and eventually giving rise to amphibian tetrapods . These early tetrapods were large semi-aquatic piscivores and riparian ambush predators that hunt terrestrial arthropods (mainly arachnids and myriopods ), and one group in particular,

1848-419: The nomenclature codes , which allow each species a single unique name that, for animals (including protists ), plants (also including algae and fungi ) and prokaryotes ( bacteria and archaea ), is Latin and binomial in form; this contrasts with common or vernacular names , which are non-standardized, can be non-unique, and typically also vary by country and language of usage. Except for viruses ,

1914-437: The order Carnivora is carnivoran , and they are so-named because most member species in the group have a carnivorous diet, but the similarity of the name of the order and the name of the diet causes confusion. Many but not all carnivorans are meat eaters; a few, such as the large and small cats ( Felidae ) are obligate carnivores (see below). Other classes of carnivore are highly variable. The ursids , for example: while

1980-404: The platypus belongs to the genus Ornithorhynchus although George Shaw named it Platypus in 1799 (these two names are thus synonyms ) . However, the name Platypus had already been given to a group of ambrosia beetles by Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Herbst in 1793. A name that means two different things is a homonym . Since beetles and platypuses are both members of the kingdom Animalia,

2046-510: The red-eyed crocodile skink have a head that is very distinguished from the body. These lizards also have legs that are relatively small proportional to their body size. Skinks' skulls are covered by substantial bony scales, usually matching up in shape and size, while overlapping. Other genera, such as Neoseps , have reduced limbs and fewer than five toes ( digits ) on each foot. In such species, their locomotion resembles that of snakes more than that of lizards with well-developed limbs. As

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2112-531: The temnospondyls , became terrestrial apex predators that hunt other tetrapods. The dominance of temnospondyls around the wetland habitats throughout the Carboniferous forced other amphibians to evolve into amniotes that had adaptations that allowed them to live farther away from water bodies. These amniotes began to evolve both carnivory, which was a natural transition from insectivory requiring minimal adaptation; and herbivory , which took advantage of

2178-423: The triconodontid Jugulator , the deltatheroidans and Cimolestes . Many of these, such as Repenomamus , Jugulator and Cimolestes , were among the largest mammals in their faunal assemblages, capable of attacking dinosaurs. In the early-to-mid-Cenozoic, the dominant predator forms were mammals: hyaenodonts , oxyaenids , entelodonts , ptolemaiidans , arctocyonids and mesonychians , representing

2244-501: The Arctic polar bear eats meat almost exclusively (more than 90% of its diet is meat), almost all other bear species are omnivorous , and one species, the giant panda , is nearly exclusively herbivorous . Dietary carnivory is not a distinguishing trait of the order . Many mammals with highly carnivorous diets are not members of the order Carnivora . Cetaceans , for example, all eat other animals, but are paradoxically members of

2310-503: The English language around 1580–1590, comes from classical Greek skinkos and Latin scincus , names that referred to various specific lizards. Skinks look like lizards of the family Lacertidae (sometimes called true lizards ), but most species of skinks have no pronounced neck and relatively small legs. Several genera (e.g., Typhlosaurus ) have no limbs at all. This is not true for all skinks, however, as some species such as

2376-452: The abundance of coal forest foliage but in contrast required a complex set of adaptations that was necessary for digesting on the cellulose - and lignin -rich plant materials. After the Carboniferous rainforest collapse , both synapsid and sauropsid amniotes quickly gained dominance as the top terrestrial animals during the subsequent Permian period. Some scientists assert that sphenacodontoid synapsids such as Dimetrodon "were

2442-444: The almost exclusively plant-eating hooved mammals . Animals that depend solely on animal flesh for their nutrient requirements in nature are called hypercarnivores or obligate carnivores , whilst those that also consume non-animal food are called mesocarnivores , or facultative carnivores , or omnivores (there are no clear distinctions). A carnivore at the top of the food chain (adults not preyed upon by other animals)

2508-442: The base for higher taxonomic ranks, such as the family name Canidae ("Canids") based on Canis . However, this does not typically ascend more than one or two levels: the order to which dogs and wolves belong is Carnivora ("Carnivores"). The numbers of either accepted, or all published genus names is not known precisely; Rees et al., 2020 estimate that approximately 310,000 accepted names (valid taxa) may exist, out of

2574-510: The desert species, such as the mole skink or sand skink in Florida . Some use a very similar action in moving through grass tussocks. Most skinks are diurnal (day-active) and typically bask on rocks or logs during the day. Raccoons , foxes , possums , snakes , coatis , weasels , crows , cats , dogs , herons , hawks , lizards , and other predators of small land vertebrates also prey on various skinks. This can be troublesome, given

2640-401: The elements, such as thick foliage, underneath man-made structures, and ground-level buildings such as garages and first-floor apartments. When two or more skinks are seen in a small area, it is typical to find a nest nearby. Skinks are considered to be territorial and often are seen standing in front of or "guarding" their nest area. If a nest is nearby, one can expect to see 10-30 lizards within

2706-468: The first terrestrial vertebrate to develop the curved, serrated teeth that enable a predator to eat prey much larger than itself". In the Mesozoic , some theropod dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus rex are thought probably to have been obligate carnivores. Though the theropods were the larger carnivores, several carnivorous mammal groups were already present. Most notable are the gobiconodontids ,

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2772-446: The form "author, year" in zoology, and "standard abbreviated author name" in botany. Thus in the examples above, the genus Canis would be cited in full as " Canis Linnaeus, 1758" (zoological usage), while Hibiscus , also first established by Linnaeus but in 1753, is simply " Hibiscus L." (botanical usage). Each genus should have a designated type , although in practice there is a backlog of older names without one. In zoology, this

2838-737: The generic name (or its abbreviated form) still forms the leading portion of the scientific name, for example, Canis lupus lupus for the Eurasian wolf subspecies, or as a botanical example, Hibiscus arnottianus ssp. immaculatus . Also, as visible in the above examples, the Latinised portions of the scientific names of genera and their included species (and infraspecies, where applicable) are, by convention, written in italics . The scientific names of virus species are descriptive, not binomial in form, and may or may not incorporate an indication of their containing genus; for example,

2904-599: The highlands of Madang Province , Papua New Guinea. Despite making up 15% of reptiles, skinks have a relatively conserved chromosome number, between 11 and 16 pairs. Skink genomes are typically about 1.5 Gb, approximately one-half the size of the human genome. The Christmas Island blue-tailed skink ( Cryptoblepharus egeriae ) was sequenced in 2022, representing the first skink reference genome. Skinks were long thought to have both genetic sex determination (GSD) and temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD). Despite having sex chromosomes that are not distinguishable with

2970-633: The largest component, with 23,236 ± 5,379 accepted genus names, of which 20,845 ± 4,494 are angiosperms (superclass Angiospermae). By comparison, the 2018 annual edition of the Catalogue of Life (estimated >90% complete, for extant species in the main) contains currently 175,363 "accepted" genus names for 1,744,204 living and 59,284 extinct species, also including genus names only (no species) for some groups. The number of species in genera varies considerably among taxonomic groups. For instance, among (non-avian) reptiles , which have about 1180 genera,

3036-613: The lizard genus Anolis has been suggested to be broken down into 8 or so different genera which would bring its ~400 species to smaller, more manageable subsets. Carnivore A carnivore / ˈ k ɑːr n ɪ v ɔːr / , or meat-eater ( Latin , caro , genitive carnis , meaning meat or "flesh" and vorare meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly muscle , fat and other soft tissues ) as food , whether through predation or scavenging . The technical term for mammals in

3102-583: The long gestation period for some skinks, making them an easy target to predators such as the mongoose , which often threaten the species to at least near extinction, such as the Anguilla Bank skink . Invasive rodents are a major threat to skinks that have been overlooked, especially tropical skinks. Skinks are also hunted for food by indigenous peoples in New Guinea , including by the Kalam people in

3168-499: The lost part of a tail, though imperfectly. A lost tail can grow back within around three to four months. Species with stumpy tails have no special regenerative abilities. Some species of skinks are quite small; Scincella lateralis typically ranges from 7.5 to 14.5 cm (3 to 5 + 3 ⁄ 4  in), more than half of which is the tail. Most skinks, though, are medium-sized, with snout-to-vent lengths around 12 cm ( 4 + 1 ⁄ 2  in), although some grow larger;

3234-409: The mid-Cretaceous (late Albian to early Cenomanian ) Burmese amber from Myanmar , dating to around 100  million years ago . Based on the presence of osteoderms , Electroscincus appears to belong to the Scincidae crown group , indicating that some divergence among the extant skink subfamilies must have already occurred by 100 million years ago. Other definitive skink fossils are known from

3300-403: The most (>300) have only 1 species, ~360 have between 2 and 4 species, 260 have 5–10 species, ~200 have 11–50 species, and only 27 genera have more than 50 species. However, some insect genera such as the bee genera Lasioglossum and Andrena have over 1000 species each. The largest flowering plant genus, Astragalus , contains over 3,000 species. Which species are assigned to a genus

3366-460: The mother's reproductive tract , and emerging as live births. In some genera, however, such as Tiliqua and Corucia , the young developing in the reproductive tract derive their nourishment from a mammal-like placenta attached to the female – unambiguous examples of viviparous matrotrophy . Furthermore, an example recently described in Trachylepis ivensi is the most extreme to date:

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3432-428: The name could not be used for both. Johann Friedrich Blumenbach published the replacement name Ornithorhynchus in 1800. However, a genus in one kingdom is allowed to bear a scientific name that is in use as a generic name (or the name of a taxon in another rank) in a kingdom that is governed by a different nomenclature code. Names with the same form but applying to different taxa are called "homonyms". Although this

3498-596: The niches of large carnivores were taken over by nautiloid cephalopods such as Cameroceras and later eurypterids such as Jaekelopterus during the Ordovician and Silurian periods. The first vertebrate carnivores appeared after the evolution of jawed fish , especially armored placoderms such as the massive Dunkleosteus . The dominance of placoderms in the Devonian ocean forced other fish to venture into other niches, and one clade of bony fish ,

3564-468: The percentage of meat in their diet. The diet of a hypercarnivore consists of more than 70% meat, that of a mesocarnivore 30–70%, and that of a hypocarnivore less than 30%, with the balance consisting of non-animal foods, such as fruits , other plant material, or fungi . Omnivores also consume both animal and non-animal food, and apart from their more general definition, there is no clearly defined ratio of plant vs. animal material that distinguishes

3630-738: The period of a month. In parts of the southern United States, nests are commonly found in houses and apartments, especially along the coast. The nest is where the skink lays its small white eggs, up to 4-8 at a time. Skinks are very specific in their habitat as some can depend on vegetation while others may depend on land and the soil. As a family, skinks are cosmopolitan ; species occur in a variety of habitats worldwide, apart from boreal and polar regions. Various species occur in ecosystems ranging from deserts and mountains to grasslands. Many species are good burrowers. More species are terrestrial or fossorial (burrowing) than arboreal (tree-climbing) or aquatic species. Some are "sand swimmers", especially

3696-555: The physical characteristics to bring down prey; in addition, most hunting carnivores will scavenge when the opportunity arises. Carnivores have comparatively short digestive systems, as they are not required to break down the tough cellulose found in plants. Many hunting animals have evolved eyes facing forward, enabling depth perception. This is almost universal among mammalian predators, while most reptile and amphibian predators have eyes facing sideways. Predation (the eating of one living organism by another for nutrition ) predates

3762-541: The provisions of the ICZN Code, e.g., incorrect original or subsequent spellings, names published only in a thesis, and generic names published after 1930 with no type species indicated. According to "Glossary" section of the zoological Code, suppressed names (per published "Opinions" of the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature) remain available but cannot be used as the valid name for

3828-402: The rise of commonly recognized carnivores by hundreds of millions (perhaps billions) of years. It began with single-celled organisms that phagocytozed and digested other cells, and later evolved into multicellular organisms with specialized cells that were dedicated to breaking down other organisms. Incomplete digestion of the prey organisms, some of which survived inside the predators in

3894-663: The rise of multicellular organisms at about 2 bya, and the rise of motile predators (around 600 Mya – 2 bya, probably around 1 bya) have all been attributed to early predatory behavior, and many very early remains show evidence of boreholes or other markings attributed to small predator species. The sudden disappearance of the precambrian Ediacaran biota at the end-Ediacaran extinction , who were mostly bottom-dwelling filter feeders and grazers , has been hypothetized to be partly caused by increased predation by newer animals with hardened skeleton and mouthparts. The degradation of seafloor microbial mats due to

3960-470: The same kind as other (analogous) genera. The term "genus" comes from Latin genus , a noun form cognate with gignere ('to bear; to give birth to'). The Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus popularized its use in his 1753 Species Plantarum , but the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656–1708) is considered "the founder of the modern concept of genera". The scientific name (or

4026-408: The scientific epithet) of a genus is also called the generic name ; in modern style guides and science, it is always capitalised. It plays a fundamental role in binomial nomenclature , the system of naming organisms , where it is combined with the scientific name of a species : see Botanical name and Specific name (zoology) . The rules for the scientific names of organisms are laid down in

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4092-497: The specific name particular to the wolf. A botanical example would be Hibiscus arnottianus , a particular species of the genus Hibiscus native to Hawaii. The specific name is written in lower-case and may be followed by subspecies names in zoology or a variety of infraspecific names in botany . When the generic name is already known from context, it may be shortened to its initial letter, for example, C. lupus in place of Canis lupus . Where species are further subdivided,

4158-412: The standard format for a species name comprises the generic name, indicating the genus to which the species belongs, followed by the specific epithet, which (within that genus) is unique to the species. For example, the gray wolf 's scientific name is Canis lupus , with Canis ( Latin for 'dog') being the generic name shared by the wolf's close relatives and lupus (Latin for 'wolf') being

4224-403: The taxon is termed a synonym ; some authors also include unavailable names in lists of synonyms as well as available names, such as misspellings, names previously published without fulfilling all of the requirements of the relevant nomenclatural code, and rejected or suppressed names. A particular genus name may have zero to many synonyms, the latter case generally if the genus has been known for

4290-576: The values quoted are the mean of "accepted" names alone (all "uncertain" names treated as unaccepted) and "accepted + uncertain" names (all "uncertain" names treated as accepted), with the associated range of uncertainty indicating these two extremes. Within Animalia, the largest phylum is Arthropoda , with 151,697 ± 33,160 accepted genus names, of which 114,387 ± 27,654 are insects (class Insecta). Within Plantae, Tracheophyta (vascular plants) make up

4356-429: The virus species " Salmonid herpesvirus 1 ", " Salmonid herpesvirus 2 " and " Salmonid herpesvirus 3 " are all within the genus Salmonivirus ; however, the genus to which the species with the formal names " Everglades virus " and " Ross River virus " are assigned is Alphavirus . As with scientific names at other ranks, in all groups other than viruses, names of genera may be cited with their authorities, typically in

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