Systemizing Taxonomic Diversity

A. History of Systematics
Classification of Local Application
o Utilitarian
- Naming of plants based on recognized uses
- Naming of domesticated and wild animals
o Medieval Age
- Herbals plants
- Bestiaries animals
- Compendium a catalogue of plants and animals
o Herbalists
- Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40-90 AD)
De Materia Medica; medicinal plants of Greece and
classification
German herbalists and their herbals classification by
medicinal properties
Universal System of Nomenclature
Latin names
- Polynomial genus + string of Latin words and phrases
Various Systems of Classification
a. Artificial Systems of Classification
o Andrea Caesalpino (Italian)
Plant Kingdom (habit)
o John Ray (English)
Plant and Animal Kingdoms (form and gross morphology)
o Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnaeus)
Plants, animals, and minerals
Father of Taxonomy
Systema Naturae (1758)
Species Plantarum (1753)
Introduced binomial nomenclature
Introduced the consistence of hierarchy in classification
b. Natural Systems of Classification
- Related plants and animals catalogued together
Adolf Engler and Karl Prantl plant classification
George Cuvier animal classification (including extinct
animals)
c. Phylogenetic System of Classification
o Darwins Origin of Species (1859)
Species were evolving
Species consisted of varied individuals
Species evolved from one another in the long course of
history of life
o Ernst Haeckel (19
th
Century) vertebrate classification;
embryological characters
o Charles Bassey (20
th
Century) plant classification; phylogeny of
flowering plants (concept of primitiveness)
Modern Systems of Classification
3 Major Concerns
o Taxonomy
- Theory and practice of classifying taxa
- Description and classification of taxa and the theoretical principles
- 3 areas:
Classification
Identification
Nomenclature
o Biosystematics
- Experimental aspect
- Study of variation in populations and how species are formed
o Phylogenetic Systematics
- Study of the evolutionary relationships of taxa
- Study of phylogeny of taxa
B. Taxonomic Classification
Taxonomic Ranks
Latin English
regio domain
regnum kingdom
phylum/divisio phylum/division
classis class
ordo order
familia family
genus genus
species species

Rules of Nomenclature
1. Scientific names should be in Latin.
2. Names accepted as valid should be published and a nomenclatural type designated.
3. There should only be one and only one scientific name for each taxon (universality and
stability).
4. The name of a taxonomic group is based upon the priority of publication.
Plants, lichens, algae, slime, molds 1753
Animals 1758
5. Botanical nomenclature is independent of zoological nomenclature.



Code for Nomenclature
International Code for Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN)
International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) ornamentals
International Code for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)
Tautonyms the generic name is repeated to become the specific epithet.
Components of a Scientific Name:
Generic name
Specific epithet
Author citation
Trinomial:
Generic name
Specific epithet
Varietal or subspecies name
Variety plants
Subspecies animals
Example:
Brassica oleracea var. capitata - cabbage
Brassica oleracea var. gemmifera brussel sprouts
Brassica oleracea var. botrytis cauliflower

Why do we use scientific names over common names?
Different plants might share the same common name.
The same plant might have the different common names.
Many plants do not have common names.
- Rare plants or those without ornamental or commercial value.

Biosystematics
The application of experimental (genetics, cytogenetics) and population approaches to
systematic problems
Attempt to discover the mechanisms and processes that:
Direct evolution
Influence variation patterns
Cause speciation
Variation
Complexity and diversity apparent among species and between individuals of the same
species.
Kinds of Variation:
Developmental Variation
- e.g. Adult plants vs. immature seedlings
Environmental Variation
- Pattern of growth is altered in response to environmental differences
- Phenoplasticity (change in appearance) caused by light, water, nutrients,
temperature and soil
- e.g. heterophylly in arrowhead (Sagittaria)
Genetic Variation
- Heritable
- Sources:
Mutation
- Nucleotide substitutions
- Chromosomal mutations
Gene flow and recombination
Gene flow
- Exchange of existing genes flow among the populations within a
species (interspecific hybridization)
- Exchange of existing genes between populations of two distinct
but related species
Recombination
- Produces new gene arrangements by:
Cross-fertilization
Interchange of segments (crossing-over)
- Independent assortment of chromosomes
Phylogeny and Lineages of Taxa
Cladistics to produce monophyletic groups
Apomorphy a derived character
Synapomorphy an apomorphy shared by two or more groups which originated
in their last common ancestor