Specific name in zoological nomenclature (also: specific epithet or species epithet) refers to the second part (the second name) within the name of a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 (a binomen

Binomen

In zoological nomenclature, a binomen , is the two-part name of a species. The term was introduced in 1953, abolishing the previously used "binomial name" . A binomen consists of a generic name and a specific epithet...

). The first part of the name of a species is the name of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 or the generic name.

The rules and regulations governing the giving of a new species name are explained in the article species description

Species description

A species description or type description is a formal description of a newly discovered species, usually in the form of a scientific paper. Its purpose is to give a clear description of a new species of organism and explain how it differs from species which have been described previously, or are...

.

Example: The scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens, which is the species name, consisting of two names: Homo is the "generic name" (the name of the genus) and sapiens is the "specific name".

The grammar of species names

Grammatically, a binomen (and a trinomen

Trinomen

In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen , or trinominal name, refers to the name of a subspecies.A trinomen is a name consisting of three names: generic name, specific name and subspecific name. The first two parts alone form the binomen or species name. All three names are typeset in italics, and...

, also) must be treated as if it were a Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 phrase, no matter which language the words were originally taken from. (This gives some justification to the popular usage of the phrase "Latin name" instead of the more correct phrase "scientific name".) Grammatically (using Latin grammar), the specific name must adhere to certain conventions. The specific name can either be formed as:

• A noun in apposition to the genus name, for example, the scientific name of the lion, Panthera leo
  Lion
  The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
  
  . In these cases, the word for the genus and the word for the species do not necessarily have to agree in gender. Species names which are nouns in apposition are sometimes the vernacular name of the organism in Latin or Ancient Greek, or the name (specific or generic) of another organism which the organism itself resembles.

• A noun in the genitive case
  Genitive case
  In grammar, genitive is the grammatical case that marks a noun as modifying another noun...
  
  (i.e. belonging to).
  • This is common in parasites: Xenos vesparum
    Xenos vesparum
    Xenos vesparum is an insect species, whose females are permanent entomophagous endoparasites of Polistes paper wasps. They dwell their whole life in the abdomen of the wasp....
    
    ("Xenos of the wasps").
  • Proper nouns which are names of people and places are often used in the genitive case. For example the name of the coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae
    Coelacanth
    Coelacanths are members of an order of fish that includes the oldest living lineage of Sarcopterygii known to date....
    
    which means "Latimeria of Chalumna", is a reference to the area near the mouth of the Chalumna River
    Chalumna River
    The Chalumna River is a river in South Africa which empties into the Indian Ocean and is located about 45 km south west of the Buffalo River at East London. Kayser's Beach is situated close by....
    
     in the Indian Ocean, where the coelacanth was first found, i.e. its type locality.

• An adjective which must agree in case and gender with the genus: Felis silvestris ("the forest cat")

Differences from botany

In botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature

Botanical nomenclature is the formal, scientific naming of plants. It is related to, but distinct from taxonomy. Plant taxonomy is concerned with grouping and classifying plants; botanical nomenclature then provides names for the results of this process. The starting point for modern botanical...

, "name" always refers to the whole name (of a species or otherwise), whereas in zoological nomenclature it can refer to either part of the binomen. Thus Hedera helix

Hedera helix

Hedera helix is a species of ivy native to most of Europe and western Asia. It is labeled as an invasive species in a number of areas where it has been introduced.-Description:...

(Common Ivy, English Ivy) is the name of the species; Hedera is the name of the genus; but helix is the specific epithet, not the specific name.