# Aptenodynes patagonicus / patagonica



## susanna76

Hi,

The Latin name for the king penguin is _Aptenodynes patagonicus_, but I've also seen _Aptenodynes patagonica_. Is the second a plural or something, and is it still ok to use it? (I'm thinking there may have been a time when both were used, but now it's only _patagonicus_. But that's just a hunch.)

Thank you!


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## Cagey

Do they use _Aptenody*t*es patagonica_ to refer to a female?


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## susanna76

Right! Sounds like it's for a female! Obviously. But is that common practice, I wonder? Because all Latin names I've seen so far have been masculine, regardless of the specimen.


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## Stoggler

The sex of the specimen is irrelevant, the name of a species does not change in Binomial nomenclature.

The usual practice is for the second element of a species name to agree with the genus name, so masculine, feminine and neuter endings are possible across a range of different species, but you don't change the ending if only a female is being observed; Passer domesticus is never Passer domestica.


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## Cagey

If they don't change name to agree with the gender of an individual -- and the rest of the text is in English -- then I would guess that the 'a' is a mistake.


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## susanna76

Thank you Stoggler and Cagey!


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## Agró

*δύτης *(diver) is a masculine word, so _patagonic*us* _is the right/logical choice here.


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## susanna76

Thank you, Agro!


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