Binomial System of Nomenclature

Biologists used a standard system to name living organisms different from the common names such as cow, goat etc. that we are familiar with.  In the 18th century, Swedish naturalist, Carolus Linnaeus, developed the modern scientific system of giving two names to living things.

The first name is the Genus or Generic name; it starts with a capital letter and is, underlined when written, or printed in italics, while the second name is the Species or Specific name, it is written last, underlined when written separately, or printed in italics, and starts with a small letter. The scientific name for man is Homo sapiens or written in this form Homo sapiens.

Other examples are:

Binomial Nomenclature