The first word of the scientific name is capitalized, functions as a (n), and tells the of the organism

Binomial Nomenclature is made up of the Genus (first word) and Species (second word)

The first word of the scientific name is not capitalized, the first letter of this word does. It has to be capitalized according to the binomial nomenclature.

This nomenclature has two terms and the first corresponds to the genre and the second is the specific name. Together this name is written in italics.