What is meant by the non-italicised species name ``sp.''?
27th August 2002
Question
What is meant by the non-italicised species name ``sp.''?
Answer
When a specimen is named using ``sp.'' after a genus name, this
indicates that it's identified well enough to assign it to the
genus, but not to any particular species with that genus.
For example, when a specimen is called ``Diplodocus sp.'', the
person referring to it is satisfied that it belongs to
Diplodocus;
but it might be
Diplodocus longus,
Diplodocus carnegiei,
Diplodocus hayi,
or perhaps a completely new Diplodocus species.