Q 01/05

In which language did Linnaeus write the scientific names he gave to plants and animals?

A) Greek

B) Swedish

C) Latin

D) German

Answer · why

C) Latin

Latin was the shared language of Europe's scholars in the 1700s, and Linnaeus wrote many of his own books in it; the names still take Latin form even ...

Q 02/05

Which naming system did Linnaeus formalise for organisms?

A) Cladistic coding

B) Trinomial nomenclature

C) Phylogenetic ranking

D) Binomial nomenclature

Answer · why

D) Binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature replaced unwieldy descriptive phrases: the briar rose, once labelled with a whole string of words, became simply Rosa canina. Ot...

Q 03/05

Linnaeus is popularly known as the father of which discipline?

A) Modern chemistry

B) Modern genetics

C) Modern taxonomy

D) Modern geology

Answer · why

C) Modern taxonomy

Modern taxonomy still runs on his nested ranks, from kingdom down to species, though later biologists slotted in extra levels such as phylum and famil...

Q 04/05

What name did Linnaeus take after his ennoblement in 1761?

A) Carl von Hammarby

B) Carl af Råshult

C) Carl Linnerhielm

D) Carl von Linné

Answer · why

D) Carl von Linné

Carl von Linné was the style granted by a patent of nobility issued in 1761 but backdated to 1757, the year the king had first awarded him the honour.

Q 05/05

What abbreviation marks Linnaeus as the authority for a plant name?

A) C.v.L.

B) Ln.

C) L.

D) C.L.

Answer · why

C) L.

L. after a plant name, as in Rubus L. for the brambles, records that Linnaeus was the first to publish it; zoologists cite him differently, usually wr...