eli5: why do we use a specific epithet in species names? shouldnt the genus be enough?

Question

eli5: why do we use a specific epithet in species names? shouldnt the genus be enough?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.

The species classification exists because there are often different animals in the same genus that need to be distinguished. If you don’t need to distinguish them, you can still use the generic name only.

Look how many species of Brassica there are, for example. Some of them even need to be distinguished by subspecies.