Taxonomy is more than what meets the eye.
Usually, when one would hear the word “taxonomy”, we often associate it with naming and classifying all living organisms into the 7 taxonomic categories (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) and each of us may remember their own mnemonic in memorizing these categories. For some, it’s just memorizing a book of scientific names; but this way of perceiving taxonomy is completely INSUFFICIENT AND WRONG.
Taxonomy is one of the aspect of systematics and it is the theory and practice of recognizing, describing, naming, and classifying an organism. The term ‘taxonomy’ was derived from two Greek words: taxis (arrangement) and nomos (law) and this was coined by Augustin Pyramus de Candolle in 1883. These are the following principles of taxonomy:
1. Classification. It is the ordering of organisms into groups or sets based on relationships through inductive manner.
2. Identification. It is the placing of individuals into previously established classes through deductive manner.
3. Nomenclature. It is the application of distinctive names to each of the groups recognized in a classification system.
4. Description. It is the describing of an organism or a group of organisms highlighting its characters.
For an example, knowing that Eastern American red fox appeared on this planet more later than sponges and classifying it under Phylum Chordata and not Phylum Porifera due to its presence of notochord is an example of classification. Moreover, placing this fox under Class Mammalia, Order Carnivora, Family Canidae is what you would call identification due to its presence of mammary glands, being carnivorous and canine(canid). On the other hand, giving the scientific name, Vulpes vulpes fulvus based on its distinctiveness to other foxes is called nomenclature.
Microtaxonomy vs Macrotaxonomy
Microtaxonomy is the classifying grouping of populations at the infraspecific levels while macrotaxonomy is the grouping of species into higher taxa (e.g. Family, Order, Class, etc.).
Levels of Taxonomy
1. Alpha-Taxonomy. It is the analytic phase; discipline that detects, describes, and classifiesnew species.
2. Beta-Taxonomy. It is the arrangement of species based on hierarchical categories.
3. Gamma-Taxonomy. It is the designation of the analysis of studies concerning the intraspecific variations and evolutionary.
These three levels of taxonomy can be analogized into English lexicon wherein alpha-taxonomy can be perceived as the alphabet of biology, beta-taxonomy as the grammar of biology, and passage or paragraph for the gamma-taxonomy.
Importance of Taxonomy
Taxonomy is very essential to the field of biology since it helps to recognize species among a lot of different specimens. Also, it provides universality to the scientific community by providing different information regarding each identified and recognized species. This is why the process of correct and proper recognition, definition, and designation of an organism to its group is important.
Taxonomy is not complicating things but it is the one who put order to the field of biology. So let’s give the attention and appreciation to this aspect of systematics.
If you do not know the names of things, the knowledge of them is lost too.
-Carolus Linnaeus
Unlovable Replacement 