Taxonomy
From Palaeos
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| see also Life |
Taxonomy is the theoretical study of classification and the principles, procedures and rules thereof; the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, thus giving rise to taxa. Essentially, taxonomy deals with the ways in which we group living things together, in contrast to Phylogeny which refers to evolutionary history.
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[edit] History
Taxonomy has a long history, with Aristotle giving the first detailed classification of living things. His classification of animals was:
- Blooded (vertebrates)
- Viviparous quadrupeds (land mammals)
- Birds
- Oviparous quadrupeds (reptiles and amphibians)
- Fish
- Cetaceans (Aristotle did not realize their mammalian nature)
- Bloodless (invertebrates)
- Land arthropods (insects, arachnids, myriapods)
- Aquatic arthropods (mostly crustaceans)
- Shelled animals (shelled mollusks, echinoderms, etc.)
- Soft animals (cephalopods, etc.)
- Plant-animals (cnidarians, etc., which superficially resemble plants)
However, he had made no effort to classify plants or fungi. Modern approaches to taxonomy, while obviously more diverse than in Aristotle's time, but can be lumped into three major schools: phenetic, phylogenetic (cladistic), and evolutionary.
[edit] Alpha taxonomy
For a long time the term "taxonomy" was unambiguous, but over time the word "taxonomy" gained several other meanings and thus became confusing. To some extent it is sometimes replaced, in its original (and narrow) meaning, by "alpha taxonomy".
Another source of confusion is the relationship to systematics. The words "taxonomy" and "systematics" have a similar history and similar meanings: over time these have been used as synonyms, as overlapping or as completely complementary.
- In today's usage, Taxonomy (as a science) deals with finding, describing and naming organisms. This science is supported by institutions holding collections of these organisms, with relevant data, carefully curated: such institutes include Natural History Museums, Herbaria and Botanical Gardens.
- Systematics (as a science) deals with the relationships between taxa, especially at the higher levels. These days systematics is greatly influenced by data derived from DNA from mitochondria and chloroplasts. This is sometimes known as molecular systematics and is doing well, likely at the expense of taxonomy (Wheeler, 2004).
[edit] References
- Wheeler, Q. D. (2004). Taxonomic triage and the poverty of Phylogeny. Phil. Trans. Roy Soc. London, Biology 359: 571-583.
[edit] Links
- uBio Taxonomic Name Reconciliation
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System - U.S. Server Mexico Server Canada Server
- Tree of Life
- BioLib
- NCBI Taxonomy
- Taxonomy & Informatics An AMNH & NSF Project
- Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary: definition- taxonomy Ü
- Do Plant Species Really Exist - article on a study by University Bloomington scientists
| TAXONOMY |
| Classification | Evolutionary Taxonomy | Linnaean Taxonomy | Nomenclature | Taxonomic inertia |
