All scientific names, such as the scientific name for honey bees, apis mellifera, are part of a binomial nomenclature. which of the following statements about scientific names is true? a. scientific names for common species only have one word. b. the first name in a scientific name represents the genus. c. the second name in a scientific name represents the phylum. d. species typically have several different scientific names.

Answer is B. The first name in a scientific name represents the genus.

Binomial nomenclature is the system of naming organisms in a scientific way. This system was developed by Carl Linnaeus.  Each scientific name in binomial nomenclature consists of two names, also called descriptors or epithets. The first word is the generic name which describes the genus that an organism belongs to. The second word is the specific name which refers to the species of the organism.  

Typically, the words have a Latin base and describe the genus or species with references to traits that are specific to the group. When scientific name of an organisms is written, the text of a scientific name is usually italicized or underlined. The generic name is begins with capital letter, while the specific is written in small letter (in lower-case). For example, scientific name of humans is Homo sapiens. ‘Homo’ is generic name and ‘sapiens’ is specific name.