Question

An organism has the scientific name Canis lupus. Based on your knowledge of taxonomic categories explain how it is similar to and dissimilar from another organism, Canis latrans.

Answer 1

Answer:

They belong to the same genus, but are different species.

Explanation:

Canis is a genus that belongs to the family Canidae which contains multiple species, such as wolves, coyotes, jackals, dogs.

So, a genus, in general, is taxonomic category beyond the species and below the family. In binomial nomenclature, the first part of the binomial species name is the name of genus for each species within the genus (such as Canis lupus and Canis latrans).

Canis lupus is the binomial name for gray wolf, while Canis latrans is for coyote.