Read the following statements regarding the universal rules of nomenclature: A. Biological names are generally in Latin and written in italics. B. The first word in a biological name represents the specific epithet. C. Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined. D. The specific epithet starts with a capital letter. How many of the above statements are correct?

Step-by-step solution

Let us evaluate each statement based on the universal rules of nomenclature. Statement A is correct: Biological names are generally in Latin and written in italics. Statement B is incorrect: The first word in a biological name represents the genus, while the second component denotes the specific epithet. Statement C is correct: Both the words in a biological name, when handwritten, are separately underlined to indicate their Latin origin. Statement D is incorrect: The specific epithet starts with a small letter, wh