Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics

S T E A M E D U C AT I O N
TAXONOMY vs. SYSTEMATICS
SYSTEMATICS
IN STRICT DEFINITION,
The study of the
diversification of life forms,
both past and present, and
their relationships among
other organisms through
time.
PHENETICS- similarity
PHYLOGENETICS- kinship by descent from
common ancestors
THROPIC- food relationship
GEOGRAPHIC- spatial
Also defined as the study of the
historical relationship of groups of
biological organisms – the recognition
and understanding of biodiversity.
Tracing phylogeny is one of the goal of
systematics hence, it is considered the
study of biological diversity in an
evolutionary context
TAXONOMY

The science of arranging

and classifying living
organisms into groups
called “taxa”
 ROLE TAXONOMIST SYSTEMATIST

1) provides specific names √ √

2) gives a detailed description of an √ √

organism

3)collects and keeps volumes of √ √

specimens

4)offers classification for the organisms, √ √

constructing identification keys and data
on the occurrence and distribution

5) investigation on evolutionary histories √

6) considers environmental adaptation of √

species
Biological Nomenclature and Some Basic Rules

There are many ways to classify objects (e.g.

color, size, shape, genetic sequence, etc). The
trick is to try to determine which characteristics
are the best to describe a particular species
and to distinguish it from other similar
organisms.
The specific name of a specie is a “binomial
name”, which includes two parts: the genus and
the specie epithets.
In summary
Using humans as an example, the major
taxonomic ranks areas follows (Krempels and
Lee, 2003)
EUKARYA ( domain)

ANIMALIA ( kingdom)
CHORDATA ( phylum)
MAMMALIA (class)
PRIMATES ( order)
PONGIDAE ( family)
HOMO ( genus)
HOMO SAPIENS (species)
 Carl Linne

A Swedish botanist, created this system of

nomenclature in 1735 as systema naturae. He
then changed his own name into latin as Carolus
Linnaeus. This is the name that is known as the
father of modern taxonomy.

The application of binomial nomenclature is now governed

by various internationally agreed codes of rules.
At present, the following nomenclature
codes govern the naming of species,
as follows:

Algae, Fungi and Plants

01 International code of nomenclature
for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN)

Animals
02 International code of zoological
nomenclature

Bacteria
03 International code of nomenclature
of bacteria (ICNB)

Cultivated plants
04 International code of nomenclature
for cultivated plants (ICNCP)
Simple Portfolio
Viruses
05 International committee on the Presentation
taxonomy of viruses (ICTV)
MAJOR RULES IN NOMENCLATURE
RULE 1 Names should be written in latin

RULE 2 The scientific name of an organism is always written with the

Genus capitalized and the species epithet in lower case letter

RULE 3
Because the words are Latinized, they should always be
italicized
RULE 4
When the scientific names are written by hand, each separate
word should be underlined
RULE 5
The first name to be validly and effectively published gets the priority.
This rule has caused numerous name changes, particularly on fossil
organisms
RULE 6 All taxa must have an author when described. For example,
Homo Sapiens L, the L stands for Linneaus who first
successfully described and named the organism
 CATEGORIES OF CLASSIFICATION
TAXON ( group of one or more populations of an organism)
- Three facets

NAME OF THE TAXON

The most important ‘character’ used
to describe a group of similar items.
Once a Greek or Latin root word is
assigned, complicated names
derived from other languages
become simplier and easier to
associate back to the
species( Krempels and Lee, 2013) RANK OF THE TAXON
Biologists uses the taxon within the
hierarchy to locate the organisms
grouping.
The relative rank of a taxon within its
classification is more important than
THE CON TENT OF THE TAXON the relative rank itself.
The key aspect of the taxon which
uses groupings of specific
individuals within a single species,
related specieswithin a single genus,
related to genera, and so on. This
tells us that the organisms has a
common ancestry