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Species affinis
open-in-new
<p><i>Species affinis</i> (commonly abbreviated to: <i>sp.</i>, <i>aff.</i>, or <i>affin.</i>) is <a href="/facts/Taxonomy_(biology)/Qkg8wuyw">taxonomic</a> terminology in <a href="/facts/Zoology/6Kj13mBt">zoology</a> and <a href="/facts/Botany/PaIRoxnb">botany</a>. In <a href="/facts/Open_nomenclature/ebDgnEWb">open nomenclature</a> it indicates that available material or evidence suggests that the proposed <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r">species</a> is related to, has an <a href="/facts/Affinity_(taxonomy)/t6snCwdz">affinity</a> to, but is not identical to, the species with the <a href="/facts/Binomial_nomenclature/jgBqAhPv">binomial</a> name it comes after. The Latin word <i>affinis</i> can be translated as "closely related to", or "akin to". </p><p>An author who inserts <i><a href="/facts/N.sp./bM6bEoaX">n.sp.</a>,</i> or <i><a href="/facts/Sp._nov./bM6bEoaX">sp. nov.</a>, aff</i> before a species name thereby states the opinion that the specimen is a new, previously <a href="/facts/Species_description/JyFpxSvJ">undescribed</a> species, but that there may not (yet) be enough information to complete a formal description. To use <i>aff.</i> alone, implies that the specimen differs suggestively from the <a href="/facts/Holotype/a8n9vhHa">holotype</a> but that further progress is necessary to confirm that it is a novel species. </p><p>An example would be: a <a href="/facts/Gastropod_shell/HIIBd2oQ">gastropod shell</a> listed as <i>Lucapina</i> aff. <i>L.</i> <i>aegis</i> would mean that this shell somewhat resembles the shell of <i><a href="/facts/Lucapina_aegis/N07MXWLo">Lucapina aegis</a></i>, but is thought more likely to be another species, either closely related to, or closely resembling <i>Lucapina aegis</i>. In a suitable context it also may suggest the possibility that the shell belongs to a species that has not yet been <a href="/facts/Species_description/JyFpxSvJ">described</a>. </p><p>Within <a href="/facts/Entomology/zTtUNTWm">entomology</a>, <i>species proxima</i> (Latin: 'the nearest species', abbreviated <i>prox.</i> or <i>sp. prox.</i>) and species near (abbreviated nr. or sp. nr.) indicate a specimen is similar to, but distinct from, a described species. </p><p>The use of <i>aff.</i> is similar to other indicators of open nomenclature such as <i><a href="/facts/Cf./hdmpMAfU">cf.</a></i>, <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r"><i>sp.</i></a>, or ?, but the latter indicate that the species is uncertain rather than undescribed. </p>