"::The words just display like they did before" - They do so if the same formatting was used; in other cases, the template introduces the standard formatting for biological nomenclature. The purpose of using it on that particular article was by way of a demonstration and no, I'm not "intending to use it on every occurrence of any animal name in all Wikipedia articles, regardless of the context". Have a look at its use on Peregrine falcon.  (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits