Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Whales' scientific names 
Name: Amanda Kenefick
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
How is a whale given a scientific name?


Replies:
Scientific names are assigned to living things for a variety of reasons. The more common methods involve examining the structures of the organism and determine if it is a relative of a another species. If this is the case, the Genus name will probably be the same. It depends upon the homologous structures as whether or not the Genus names will be the same. Species names can be given as a Latin based name for an outstanding feature of the organism or be an indication of the discover by including his/her name. If you need to known the origin of a specific whale scientific name, you might refer to a Latin textbook or Latin teacher to find what the Latin root word is for the name. Keep in mind that the scientific name of any organism includes the Genus name and the species name.
Whales
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Cetacea
Family: Orcinus (most)
Genus and species would relate to the specific whale you have in mind. Killer Whale
Orcinus orca is the Killer whales scientific name.

Steven D Sample


Click here to return to the Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory