Question

In Mangifera indica, the word Mangifera is a
A. Genus
B. Species
C. Variety
D. Order

Answer 1

Hint: There are some rules of biological nomenclature. Biological nomenclature was developed to provide uniformity in names. In addition, the biological names are two words, in which the genus name and species name.

Complete answer: According to the rules of the biological system of nomenclature, the biological name is two words. The first word denotes the genus of the organism, and the second word denotes the species of the organism. Thus, in biological names, the genus epithet is always followed by the species name. Now as per the rule of nomenclature, in Mangifera indica, the word Mangifera denotes the genus.
Hence, the correct answer is option (A).
Additional Information: The biological nomenclature system was developed by Carolus Linnaeus. He developed it to provide a uniform system for naming all the organisms. This is because the local names varied from place to place, so he came up with a global system. It was later accepted by ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature) and ICZN (International Code of Zoological Nomenclature). Some of the important rules of the nomenclature are as follows –
-The scientific names are written in Latin.
-They consist of two words.
-The first word always denotes the genus name and is known as the genus epithet.
-The second word denotes the species name or the specific epithet.
-The genus name is written by a capital letter, and the species name is written by a small letter.
-When writing in hand, both the words of the name should be underlined separately. If typing then it should be italicized.

Note: Mangifera indica is the scientific name for Mango. Since the species is native to the Indian subcontinent, the species name is Indica, which is kept after India, and refers to it. Mango is the national fruit of India. Apart from that, it is also the national fruit of Pakistan and the Philippines. It is also the national tree of Bangladesh.