Genus

A Genus is a group of living things that are similar. Grouping creatures in a scientific way is a kind of taxonomy. When scientists talk about one genus of animals or plants, they mean several species of those animals or plants that are closely related to each other.

The word changes differently from other English words because it comes from Latin. Genus is the singular for only one group, and genera is the plural form of the word for two or more groups. Several genera make up a family.

When writing a scientific name of an organism, you need to write the name with the genus in front. For example, "Felis silvestris catus", Felis is the genus. The genus must always begin with a capital letter.

Some people use a special rhyme or sentence called a mnemonic to help remember something difficult like a list. In one mnemonic to remember biological taxonomy, genus is the word glass. Here is one example: "Kings play chess on folding glass stools" to remember "Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species".