What is Taxonomy?
Taxonomy is a science that helps us name and describe all living things, like plants and animals. We group them based on how they behave their genes and the chemicals in their bodies. This process of grouping is called classification. We put living things into categories like kingdom, phylum, class order, family, genus and species.
Carolus Linnaeus is known as the Father of Taxonomy. He came up with a way to name and organize living things. We still use his method today. His contributions to taxonomy include
- classification system
- Binomial nomenclature system
We group living things with similar characteristics into species. We tell species apart by looking at their shape and structure. For example different types of mangoes are all part of the species. There are many species in nature that it is hard to identify and classify them without a good system. Linnaeus system, with a changes is used all over the world to classify living things.
Linnaeus Classification System
Linnaeus divided the universe into three groups: animals, plants and minerals. He grouped nature into a hierarchy. He divided the groups into smaller classes. These classes were then divided into orders. The orders were divided into genus and finally into species. We. Group all living things into one of these categories and give them a name.
Alpha Taxonomy and Beta Taxonomy
Alpha taxonomy is the process of finding, identifying and naming groups of living things. These groups are called Taxons. A taxon is a group of living things that can be grouped together.
The term Alpha taxonomy was introduced by William Bertram in a series of papers published in 1935 and 1937.
Beta taxonomy is the process of grouping species into categories based on their characteristics in a hierarchical order.
Plant Taxonomy
Plant taxonomy is a part of taxonomy. It is the science of identifying, classifying and naming plants. As we discussed earlier nature is divided into three kingdoms, one of which's the plant kingdom. The plant kingdom is divided into two groups: plants that produce seeds and plants that do not produce seeds. Plants that produce seeds include flowering plants, conifers and cycads. These plants are reproduced through pollination. Plants that do not produce seeds include horsetails, ferns and mosses. These plants are reproduced through spores.
Animal Taxonomy
Animal taxonomy is the science of identifying, classifying and naming animals. Animals are grouped based on the Linnaeus classification system. Taxonomists group them in an order starting with kingdom and going down to phylum, class order, family, genus and species.
Taxonomists divide the animal kingdom into two groups: vertebrates and invertebrates. Invertebrates include arthropods, molluscs and annelids. Vertebrates include mammals, birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians. Taxonomy is the science that deals with Taxonomy. It helps us understand the relationships, between different living things, including plants and animals and how they are all connected.
