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| ==Science and mathematics== | | ==Science and mathematics== |
| In the names of scientific and mathematical concepts, only proper names (or words derived from them) should be capitalized: ''[[Wikipedia:Hermitian matrix|Hermitian matrix]]'' or ''[[Wikipedia:Lorentz transformation|Lorentz transformation]]''. However, some established exceptions exist, such as ''[[Wikipedia:abelian group|abelian group]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Big Bang|Big Bang]] theory''. | | In the names of scientific and mathematical concepts, only proper names (or words derived from them) should be capitalized: ''[[Wikipedia:Hermitian matrix|Hermitian matrix]]'' or ''[[Wikipedia:Lorentz transformation|Lorentz transformation]]''. However, some established exceptions exist, such as ''[[Wikipedia:abelian group|abelian group]]'' and ''[[Wikipedia:Big Bang|Big Bang]] theory''. |
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| ==Animals, plants, and other organisms==
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| {{shortcut|MOS:BIOCAPS}}
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| {{see also|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (flora)}}
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| ===Scientific names===
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| [[Binomial name|Scientific names]] including [[genus]] and [[species]] (sometimes also [[subspecies]], or [[infraspecific name (botany)|other infraspecific names]]) have an initial capital letter for the genus, but not for the [sub]species ([[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Italic face|and are always italicized]]): {{xt|the tulip tree is ''Liriodendron tulipifera''}}; {{xt|all modern humans are ''Homo sapiens''}}. More specifically:
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| * The names of genera are always capitalized (and italicized), even when not paired with a species name: {{xt|''Allosaurus'', ''Falco'', ''Anas''}}.
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| * The second part of a [[binomial name|binomial species name]] is never capitalized, even when derived from a proper name (but always italicized), and is always preceded by either the genus name, or a capitalized abbreviation of it if the full version has occurred previously in the same text: {{xt|Thomson's gazelle is ''Eudorcas thomsonii'' or ''E. thomsonii''}}.
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| * In zoology, the same applies to the third part of a [[trinomial name]]: {{xt|the arctic wolf is ''Canis lupus arctos'' or ''C. l. arctos''}}.
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| * In botany, the third part of a trinomial is preceded by an indication of rank which is not italicized: {{xt|''Poa secunda'' subsp. ''juncifolia'', ''Acanthocalycium klimpelianum'' var. ''macranthum''}}.
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| [[Cultivar]] and [[cultivar group]] names of plants are not italicized, and are capitalized. Cultivar names appear within single quotes: {{xt|''Malus domestica'' 'Red Delicious'}}. Cultivar groups do not use quotation marks, but do include and capitalize the word "Group" in the name: {{xt|''Cynara cardunculus'' Scolymus Group}}. While the [[International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants|ICNCP]] has recently preferred the term "Group" (used by itself and capitalized) to refer to the cultivar group concept, please use the lower-case phrase "cultivar group" (aside from "Group" within an actual scientific name), as it is both less ambiguous and less typographically confusing to the average reader.
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| Orders, families and other [[rank (zoology)#All ranks|taxonomic ranks]] above genus level have an initial capital letter (and are not italicized): {{xt|bats belong to the order Chiroptera}}; {{xt|rats and mice are members of the family Muridae and the order Rodentia}}. However, there is generally an English form derived from the Latin name, and this should not be capitalised (nor italicized): {{xt|members of the order Chiroptera are chiropters}}; {{xt|members of the family Muridae are murids and members of the order Rodentia are rodents}}.
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| {{details|topic=article titles with taxonomic terms, including how to italicize their display|Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)}}
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| ===Common names===
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| {{shortcut|MOS:COMMONNAMES|MOS:COMMONNAMECAPS}}
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| Lower-case initial letters are used for each part of the common (vernacular) names of species, genera, families and all other taxonomic levels ({{xt|bacteria}}, {{xt|zebra}}, {{xt|bottlenose dolphin}}, {{xt|mountain maple}}, {{xt|bald eagle}}), except where they contain a [[proper name]] ({{xt|Przewalski's horse}}, {{xt|Amur tiger}}, {{xt|Roosevelt elk}}), or when such a name starts a sentence ({{xt|Black bears eat white suckers and blueberries}}).
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| {{As of|May 2014}}, wikiprojects for some groups of organisms are in the process of converting to sentence case where title case was previously used. Some articles may not have been changed yet (this may still be true of bird articles, a few groups of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Insects|insect]] articles and some [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Botany|plant]] ones, as well as a few on [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles|amphibians and reptiles]]).
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| ===Names of groups or types===
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| The common name of a ''group'' of species or ''type'' of organism is always written in lower case (except where a proper name occurs):
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| * {{xt|New World monkeys}}, {{xt|slime molds}}, {{xt|rove beetles}}, {{xt|great apes}}, {{xt|mountain dogs}}, {{xt|Van cats}}
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| This also applies to an individual creature of indeterminate species.
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| ==Celestial bodies== | | ==Celestial bodies== |
