This guideline describes the conventions for the naming of articles on fauna, that is, animals.
Its advice also applies to protists, when appropriate, though instructions provided by WP:Naming conventions (flora) are sometimes more applicable, especially when the article uses the scientific name.
Use the most common name when possible
Article titles are determined by the application of five criteria. The article title should usually consist of the name that is most common in English, following WP:Article titles §Common names. For well known animals, this will normally be the vernacular name (exceptions are detailed below):
Do not use vernacular names when it is not clear to what the name refers (see WP:Article titles §Precision). The name sardine is used for many different species of small, oily fishes; the appropriate things to do are to write an article describing the attributes the species have in common under that name, and create separate articles for each genus. However, when there is a clear core meaning for the common name, with other meanings by analogy, then it is okay to use the common name for the "true" group:
Many elongated fishes are known as "eels", but "true eels" are in the order Anguilliformes, so it's appropriate to place them at the article name "Eel", with the others listed at Eel (disambiguation).
Common names are often compound words that can sometimes cause confusion for title precision and may require a closer look at both source type and specific usage:
For insects, if a name is split into two words with a space such as house fly or honey bee, that indicates the insect is a true fly or bee, respectively. To reduce ambiguity, single-word insect names such as dragonfly or butterfly indicate those insects are not flies or that a silverfish is not a fish. Non-expert sources such as dictionaries and newspapers may not always reflect those naming conventions.[1]
When what is the most common name in English, or the veracity of that most common name, is so disputed in reliable sources that it cannot be neutrally ascertained, prefer the common name most used (orthography aside) by international zoological nomenclature authorities over regional ones. When there is no common name or no consensus can be reached on the most common name, or if it isn't clear what taxon the common name refers to (as in the sardine example above), use the scientific name:
A monotypictaxon is a taxonomic group which only contains a single subgroup (e.g., a genus with only one known species, even a subphylum with one family with one genus). In such a case, the ranks with identical member organisms should not be separated into different articles, and the article (if there is no common name) should go under the scientific name of lowest rank, but no lower than the monotypic genus. Redirects should be created from the other ranks to the actual article. (See Template:Speciesbox#Monospecific genera for the taxobox for monotypic genera at the genus name.)
The exception is when a monotypic genus name needs to be disambiguated. The article should then be at the species, since this is a more natural form of disambiguation.
The article title and content should match on the organism/group name. Redirects should be made to the article from other names for it (and spelling, capitalisation, etc., variants).
Obsolete scientific names should redirect to the article under the common name or current scientific name.
Make redirects from alternative capitalisations (many guidebooks and specialist literature in various zoological fields tend to capitalise, so we should account for both usages):
It is not necessary to create redirects from incorrectly capitalised scientific names, e.g. Nodocephalosaurus Kirtlandensis (capital K on species name)
Make redirects from singular and plural English forms of scientific names:
Capitalisation of article titles follows general Manual of Style guidance on the use of capital letters.
Common (vernacular) names
Articles whose titles are the common (vernacular) names of animals are titled in sentence case—for example, Przewalski's horse, Black bear. Where a vernacular name contains a proper name, that is also capitalised—for example, Small Indian civet. Common names are never italicised.
It is appropriate to create redirects to species (or subspecies) articles from any alternative capitalisation. For example, given an article Bald eagle, create a redirect to it from Bald Eagle. Many field guides capitalise, and most other sorts of writing do not, so we should account for both styles. There may be some rare instances where lower case and capitalised versions have different meanings; suitable links or disambiguation should then be used.
In article titles, the common name of a group of species, or an individual creature of indeterminate species, is not capitalised beyond the first word (except where a proper name occurs): Bottlenose dolphin, New World monkey, Rove beetle, Slime mold.
Using one of the display templates of the automated taxobox system, such as {{Automatic taxobox}} or {{Speciesbox}}, in most cases will automatically italicise the page title if it matches the taxon name and the taxon is genus-level or lower.
{{Italic title}} added to a page will render its title in italic, except any word in parentheses, e.g.:
This naming conventions guideline does not address prose usage.
Currency
If the scientific name of an animal has recently been changed (e.g. a species has been transferred into a different genus), and there is no reason to believe that the name change is contentious, use the new name regardless of usage in older reliable sources. It is not appropriate for us to retain archaic terminology while we wait for usage in older reliable sources to be swamped by usage in newer sources.
