Scientific names confusion

[JackintheGreen]

I've always been interested in wild plants and have known quite a few scientific names for a long time. I don't know many birds though.
I've just noticed that the Dunnock is Prunella modularis and I remembered that Selfheal is Prunella vulgaris.
Are there many instances of the same generic names being used for totally different organisms? Or have I just made a mistake here?

Thanks,

Steve

[ChrisR]

The name of a genus can only be reused with organisms in different kingdoms ... so a plant & animal can have the same generic name but not 2 plants One of the classic examples is Pieris which is used for a group of butterflies and a group of plants

[Paul mabbott]

It's really quite common - there are separate bodies overseeing the nomenclature of plants and of animals (I think that there are also international organisations dealing with fungi &c) .... I think that once, long ago, there was supposed to be absolutely no duplication but that threatened chaos! Botanists and zoologists generally read different books so there's little chance of confusion but this is why in scientific publications a fuller version of the name is given e.g. Pterostichus madidus (Animales: Hexapoda: Coleoptera: Carabidae) just in case there's a plant or fungus with the same name!

Originally Posted by JackintheGreen

I've always been interested in wild plants
and have known quite a few scientific names for a long time. I don't know many birds though.
I've just noticed that the Dunnock is Prunella modularis and I remembered that Selfheal is Prunella vulgaris.
Are there many instances of the same generic names being used for totally different organisms? Or have I just made a mistake here?

Thanks,

Steve

[JackintheGreen]

Thanks for the replies guys. Now you've said it, I knew that Pieris was used twice but I'd just never registered the fact.

Cheers,

Steve

[aeshna5]

Another one that springs to mind is Oenanthe which is the genus of wheatears + water-dropworts.