Question

What is a genus?

Answer 1

A genus is the second most specific classification of the seven levels of classification. It is also the first name of the scientific name and is capitalized.

Some examples of scientific names are
Homo sapiens (humans)
Quercus alba ( white oak)
Escherichia coli (bacteria in human large intestine)

Also consider two different species of the same genus.
The wolf ( Canis lupus) and the domesticated dog ( Canis familiaris). Both the wolf and the dog belong to the same genus and thus imply a evolutionary connection. Because, they do not normally interbreed, they are grouped into separate species.

The seven levels of taxonomic classification from most general atoms most specific are: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.