CorporisPublica:Naming conventions (fauna)

This guideline describes the conventions for the naming of articles on fauna, that is, animals.

Its advice also applies to protists, when appropriate, though instructions provided by CP:Naming conventions (flora) are sometimes more applicable, especially when the article uses the scientific name.

Use the most common name when possible
The article title should usually consist of the common (vernacular) name that is in English, following CP:Article titles:
 * Cheetah, Eastern newt, Giraffe, Koala, Yak. Exceptions are detailed below.

Use the singular form, including for groups or types of animals, following CP:Naming conventions (plurals): Beetle not Beetles.

If the article is about an animal belonging to a group where CorporisPublica editors have agreed on a non-controversial standard for choosing among two or more common names, follow that standard.
 * For ornithology articles, CorporisPublica uses the bird species and subspecies common names published by the International Ornithological Congress at the World Bird Names database. Many species have multiple common names, but only one IOC name in English. For example, the article Southern Boobook is about a species known in various parts of the world by local, non-English common names like ruru, mopoke and morepork, and has regional-authority common names such as Tasmanian Spotted Owl. Create redirects from such alternative names, and from the binomial, Ninox novaeseelandiae, but place the main entry under the IOC common name – in this case, Southern Boobook. (See below for upper/lower case rules). However, this choice has led into numerous debates since its implementation.

Don't use common names when it isn't clear what the name refers to. The name sardine is used for many different species of small, oily fishes; the appropriate things to do are to write an article describing the attributes the species have in common under that name, and create separate articles for each genus. However, when there's a clear core meaning for the common name, with other meanings by analogy, then it's okay to use the common name for the "true" group:
 * Many elongated fishes are known as "eels", but "true eels" are in the order Anguilliformes, so it's appropriate to place them at the article name "eel", with the others listed at eel (disambiguation).

When what is the most common name in English, or the veracity of that most common name, is so disputed in reliable sources that it cannot be neutrally ascertained, prefer the common name most used (orthography aside) by international zoological nomenclature authorities over regional ones. When there is no common name or no consensus can be reached on the most common name, or if it isn't clear what taxon the common name refers to (as in the sardine example above), use the scientific name:


 * Eulimella torquata was first described in 2011, and has no common name.
 * Drosophila melanogaster has no common name other than "fruit fly", which it shares with other species.
 * Fish in Sciaenidae are in some cases known as "drums", but drum is used for the musical instrument.

Monotypic taxa
If there is a choice of scientific names, generally use the lowest-ranked taxon which the article covers (i.e., species vs. genus), but for monotypic genera (where the genus has only one known species), use the genus name for the article title:


 * Xenoturbella (not Xenoturbellidae or Xenoturbellida); Nodocephalosaurus (not Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis).

Redirects
Make redirects from alternative common names:
 * Red-spotted newt → Eastern newt

Make redirects from scientific names:
 * Notophthalmus viridescens redirects to Eastern newt
 * Coleoptera redirects to Beetle
 * Nodocephalosaurus kirtlandensis redirects to Nodocephalosaurus

There may be several scientific names that need to be redirected:
 * Both Myrmecobius fasciatus and Myrmecobius redirects to Numbat (since there is only one species in the genus)
 * Both Xenoturbellida and Xenoturbellidae redirects to Xenoturbella (since there is only one described genus in the phylum)
 * Article name to match article content and redirects are made to it, either from higher taxa or subtopics.

Make redirects from alternative capitalisations (many guidebooks and specialist literature in various zoological fields tend to capitalise, so we must account for both usages):
 * Eastern Newt redirects to Eastern newt

Make redirects from English forms of scientific names:
 * Xenoturbellid redirects to Xenoturbella
 * Nodocephalosaur redirects to Nodocephalosaurus

Capitalisation and italicisation
Capitalisation of article titles follows general Manual of Style guidance on the use of capital letters.

Common (vernacular) names
Articles whose titles are the common (vernacular) names of animals are normally titled in sentence case &mdash; for example, Przewalski's horse, Black bear. Where a name contains a proper name, that word is also capitalised &mdash; for example, Small Indian civet. Common names are never italicised.

Some wikiprojects have arrived at a local consensus to always capitalise the common names of bird species (and subspecies) in ornithology articles, and to permit but not require upper-casing of species of dragonflies, and of moths and butterflies in articles on Odonata and Lepidoptera, respectively. Do not apply such capitalisation outside these categories.

In a capitalised hyphenated name, the word after the hyphen is normally not capitalised, unless a proper name. See CP:WikiProject Birds for exceptions, which can be complicated.

When creating a new article (or moving an existing one), make a redirect to it from the alternative capitalisation. For example, if you name the article Bald Eagle, create a redirect to it from Bald eagle or vice versa (many field guides capitalise, and most other sorts of writing do not, so we have to account for both styles). Creating the redirect is optional. There are some rare instances where lower case and capitalised versions have different meanings. Suitable links or disambiguation should then be used.

The common name of a group of species, or an individual creature of indeterminate species, is not capitalised beyond the first word in article titles (except where a proper name occurs): Bottlenose dolphin, New World monkey, Rove beetle, Slime mold.

Scientific names
The first part of a binomial species name, the genus, is capitalized. The second part, the species, is never capitalised (even when derived from a proper name): Ninox novaeseelandiae versus Ninox Novaeseelandiae. The same applies to the third part of a trinomial name: Canis lupus arctos.

Because scientific names are always italicised, per CP:Manual of Style/Text formatting, when the article title is a genus or lower-ranked taxonomic name (e.g. species or subspecies), the page title should also be italicised.

There are three ways to accomplish this:
 * will render the page title in italic, except any word in parentheses, e.g.:
 * Ninox
 * Morelia (genus).


 * can be used for titles that require manual formatting, e.g.
 * result:
 * Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae
 * Ninox cf. novaeseelandiae


 * Using one of the display templates of the automatic taxobox system, such as or, in most cases will automatically italicise the title if it matches the taxon name and the taxon is genus-level or lower.

Article text
This naming conventions guideline does not address prose usage.

= Resources =