but having morphological similarities. For example, Panthera has another specific epithet called tigris and Solanum includes species like nigrum and melongena . Human beings belong to the species sapiens which is grouped in the genus Homo . The scientific name thus, for human being, is written as Homo sapiens .
. . Genus comprises a group of related species which has more characters in common in comparison to species of other genera. We can say that genera are aggregates of closely related species.
For example, potato and brinjal are two different species but both belong to the genus Solanum. Lion ( Panthera leo ), leopard ( P. pardus ) and tiger ( P . tigris ) with several common features, are all species of the genus Panthera.
This genus differs from another genus Felis which includes cats. . . Family The next category, Family , has a group of related genera with still less number of similarities as compared to genus and species.
Families are characterised on the basis of both vegetative and reproductive features of plant species. Among plants for example, three different genera Solanum , Petunia and Datura are placed in the family Solanaceae. Among animals for example, genus Panthera , comprising lion, tiger, leopard is put along with genus, Felis (cats) in the family Felidae. Similarly, if you observe the features of a cat and a dog, you will find some similarities and some differences as well.
They are separated into two different families – Felidae and Canidae , respectively . . . You have seen earlier that categories like species, genus and families are based on a number of similar characters.
Generally, order and other higher taxonomic categories are identified based on the aggregates of characters. Order being a higher category, is the assemblage of families which exhibit a few similar characters. The similar characters are less in number as compared to different genera included in a family. Plant families like Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae are included in the order Polymoniales mainly based on the floral characters.
The animal order, Carnivora, includes families like Felidae and Canidae. . . Class This