Random Scientific Name Generator

Every known species has a two-part scientific name, a system Carl Linnaeus fixed in 1753 and biologists still follow. The first word is the genus, always capitalised; the second is the specific epithet, always lowercase; and both are italicised in print. Panthera leo is the lion, Panthera tigris the tiger, and the shared genus tells you at a glance that they are close relatives. The epithet is often descriptive (Ursus maritimus, the sea bear; Coccinella septempunctata, the seven-spotted ladybird), geographic (Loxodonta africana, Alligator mississippiensis), or honorific (Rafflesia arnoldii for Joseph Arnold). When discoverers ran out of ideas they simply repeated the genus, giving tautonyms like Bison bison, Gulo gulo and Pica pica.

The words come from Latin and Greek, but bent to Latin grammar: the epithet must agree in gender with the genus (rufus, rufa, rufum), and names honouring men end in -i, women in -ae, places in -ensis. This is why a made-up name like Vulpes argentea (silver fox) or Draco ignifer (fire-bearing dragon) reads as genuine to a biologist while Draco Firey does not.

The list above holds about 180 real binomials spanning mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, invertebrates, plants, fungi, bacteria and famous fossils, followed by a set of invented but grammatically correct names for fictional creatures. Use the real ones for study and quizzes and the invented ones as templates for your own species.