Pusilla

Pusilla is not a taxon or a single organism, but a Latin epithet used in the scientific names of many species to indicate small size. The word derives from pusillus, meaning “very small” or “tiny,” and its form is adapted to the gender of the genus it accompanies: pusilla is the feminine form, pusillus the masculine, and pusillum the neuter.

In zoological and botanical nomenclature, epithets such as pusilla function as descriptive labels within a binomial or trinomial name. They appear across a wide range of groups, including plants, animals, and fungi, and are not confined to any particular lineage. Because the epithet is descriptive rather than taxonomic in itself, different genera may independently assign pusilla to species that are small in comparison to their relatives.

The use of pusilla across taxa means that the same epithet can recur in unrelated species. Therefore, the presence of pusilla in a name provides no information about overall evolutionary relatedness; full taxonomic context—genus, species, and type specimen—is required to identify and compare organisms accurately.

When interpreting names that include pusilla, researchers consult the complete binomial, along with taxonomic databases and literature, to verify the precise identity and characteristics of the species. In naming conventions, pusilla stands as a conventional descriptive element rather than a hierarchical taxon.