Use Of Question Marks and Abbreviations In Scientific Names

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SteveMcBill
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Use Of Question Marks and Abbreviations In Scientific Names

Post by SteveMcBill »

Use Of Question Marks and Abbreviations In Scientific Names:

Genus? sp.: An unidentified species probably belonging to the genus.

Genus species?: Looks like this genus/species but could be completely different - not to be taken with certainty !

Genus? species: Definitely that species; questionable whether it should be classified in that genus.

Genus cf. species: Literally "comparable with" - it appears to be this species, but the diagnostic features are not visible.

Genus aff. species: Definitely *not* that species, but closely related to it ("with affinity to").

Genus ex. gr. species: One of the species complex in groups where species divisions are not clear-cut (e.g. the Aphrodes bicinctus complex).

e.g. Typhlocybine indet.: an indeterminate (strictly: not determinable) member of the Typhlocybinae.

e.g. Typhlocybine undet.: An undetermined (strictly: determination probably possible, but not been done) member of the Typhlocybinae.

Genus species author, date: The author is the one who described the species, and it is still placed in the genus that they first put it in.

Genus species (author, date): The authorship still refers to the species, but someone has since shifted it into a different genus - (i.e. the one given here).

s.l. : sensu lato; in the broad (loose) sense.

sp. (plural spp.) : species (identical in English).

s.s. : sensu stricto; in the strict (narrow or precise) sense.

subf. : subforma; subform.

subsp. (plural subspp.) : subspecies (identical in English).

subvar. : subvarietas; subvariety.

var. : varietas; variety.

f. : forma; form.

nothovar. : nothovarietas; hybrid variety.

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And a few found on specimen labels:

coll. (or in coll.) : in/from the collection of (e.g. coll. S.J. McWilliam

leg. (legit) : he/she collected

loc. cit. : in the place cited

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John_Bratton
Posts: 34
Joined: Fri Oct 03, 2008 4:05 pm

Re: Use Of Question Marks and Abbreviations In Scientific Na

Post by John_Bratton »

That is useful.

Mycologists seem prone to using cf. when they should be using aff. Or maybe its just the ones I know.

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