Subgenus

Subgenus

In <a href="/en/Biology" title="Biology" class="wl">biology</a>, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a <a href="/en/Taxonomic_rank" title="Taxonomic rank" class="wl">taxonomic rank</a> directly below <a href="/en/Genus" title="Genus" class="wl">genus</a>.

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Taxonomic rank</div>
<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg/220px-Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="1506" data-file-height="1384" data-file-type="bitmap" height="202" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg/330px-Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg/440px-Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg 2x" alt="Subgenus_Eoseristalis_P1530902a.jpg"></a><figcaption>A <a href="/en/Hoverfly" title="Hoverfly" class="mw-redirect wl">hoverfly</a> of the subgenus <a href="/en/Eristalis" title="Eristalis" class="wl">Eristalis</a> (Eoseristalis)</figcaption></figure>
In the <a href="/en/International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature" title="International Code of Zoological Nomenclature" class="wl">International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</a>, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a <a href="/en/Binomen" title="Binomen" class="mw-redirect wl">species name</a>, in parentheses, placed between the <a href="/en/Name_of_a_biological_genus" title="Name of a biological genus" class="mw-redirect wl">generic</a> name and the <a href="/en/Specific_name_(zoology)" title="Specific name (zoology)" class="wl">specific epithet</a>: e.g. the <a href="/en/Cowry" title="Cowry" class="mw-redirect wl">tiger cowry</a> of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea (Cypraea) tigris Linnaeus, which belongs to the subgenus Cypraea of the genus Cypraea. However, it is not mandatory, or even customary, when giving the name of a species, to include the subgeneric name.

In the <a href="/en/International_Code_of_Nomenclature_for_algae,_fungi,_and_plants" title="International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants" class="wl">International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants</a> (ICNafp), the subgenus is one of the possible subdivisions of a genus. There is no limit to the number of divisions that are permitted within a genus by adding the prefix "sub-" or in other ways as long as no confusion can result.<a href="#cite_note-ICN-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a> The secondary ranks of <a href="/en/Section_(botany)" title="Section (botany)" class="wl">section</a> and <a href="/en/Series_(botany)" title="Series (botany)" class="wl">series</a> are subordinate to subgenus.<a href="#cite_note-ICN-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;">[1]</a> An example is <a href="/en/Banksia_subg._Isostylis" title="Banksia subg. Isostylis" class="wl">Banksia subg. Isostylis</a>, a subgenus of the large Australian genus <a href="/en/Banksia" title="Banksia" class="wl">Banksia</a>.<a href="#cite_note-George1984-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;">[2]</a> The ICNafp requires an explicit "connecting term" to indicate the rank of the division within the genus.<a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;">[3]</a> Connecting terms are usually abbreviated, e.g. "subg." for "subgenus", and are not italicized.

In zoological nomenclature, when a genus is split into subgenera, the originally described population is retained as the "nominotypical subgenus" or "nominate subgenus", which repeats the same name as the genus. For example, Panthera (Panthera) pardus, a <a href="/en/Leopard" title="Leopard" class="wl">leopard</a>. In botanical nomenclature the same principle applies, although the terminology is different. Thus the subgenus that contains the original type of the genus Rhododendron is <a href="/en/Rhododendron_subg._Rhododendron" title="Rhododendron subg. Rhododendron" class="wl">Rhododendron subg. Rhododendron</a>. Such names are called "autonyms".<a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;">[4]</a>

In biology, a subgenus is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between the generic name and the specific epithet: e.g. the tiger cowry of the Indo-Pacific, Cypraea tigris Linnaeus, which belongs to the subgenus Cypraea of the genus Cypraea. However, it is not mandatory, or even customary, when giving the name of a species, to include the subgeneric name. In the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants , the subgenus is one of the possible subdivisions of a genus. There is no limit to the number of divisions that are permitted within a genus by adding the prefix "sub-" or in other ways as long as no confusion can result. Connecting terms are usually abbreviated, e.g. "subg." for "subgenus", and are not italicized. 