A. africanus is an abbreviation of a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 name. In binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature

Binomial nomenclature is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, although they can be based on words from other languages...

 the name of a species is always the name of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 to which the species belongs, followed by the species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 name (also called the species epithet). In A. africanus the genus name has been abbreviated to A. and the species has been spelled out in full. In a document that uses this abbreviation it should always be clear from the context which genus name has been abbreviated.

Some of the most common uses of A. africanus are:

• Aedes africanus, a mosquito species in the genus Aedes
  Aedes
  Aedes is a genus of mosquito originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents excluding Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity. Aedes albopictus, a most invasive species was recently spread to the New World, including the U.S., by the used...
  
  
• Agapanthus africanus
  Agapanthus africanus
  Agapanthus africanus is a native of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.It has a short stem bearing a tuft of long, narrow, arching leaves 10–35 cm long and 1–2 cm broad, and a central flower stalk 25–60 cm tall, ending in an umbel of 20-30 white, or bright blue, funnel-shaped...
  
  , the African lily, a plant species native of the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa
• Atherurus africanus, the African brush-tailed porcupine, a rat-like Old World porcupine species
• Australopithecus africanus
  Australopithecus africanus
  Australopithecus africanus was an early hominid, an australopithecine, who lived between 2–3 million years ago in the Pliocene. In common with the older Australopithecus afarensis, A. africanus was slenderly built, or gracile, and was thought to have been a direct ancestor of modern humans. Fossil...
  
  , an early hominid, an australopithecine who lived between 2-3 million years ago in the Pliocene

Synonyms

• Androniscus africanus, a synonym for Androniscus dentiger, a woodlouse species
• Atelopus africanus, a synonym for Werneria preussi, a toad species found in Togo and Cameroon

See also

• A. africana (disambiguation)
• Africanus (disambiguation)