Taxonomy: Classifying Life mid-17th century by a group of naturalists
known as herbalists.
An Introduction
16th-century
THE NEED FOR CLASSIFICATION
Italian botanist Andrea Cesalpino was the
Since life first appeared on Earth 3.5 billion first scientist to classify plants primarily
years ago according to structural characteristics, such
Many new types of organisms have evolved. as their fruits and seeds.
Many of these organisms have become He developed a method of character
extinct, while some have developed into the weighting in which he defined certain key
present fauna and flora of the world. characteristics that were important for
Extinction and diversification continue recognizing plant groups.
THE OVER ALL INCREASE IN This method was adapted by Swiss botanist
BIODIVERSITY Caspar Bauhin, who catalogued an extensive
10 million to 13 million species on Earth list of plants. More importantly, Bauhin was
THE CONFUSING REGIONAL NAMES the first to organize plants into a crude
the need for Binomial Nomenclature system that resembles modern genera and
The bird Europeans commonly call a robin species.
is a different species of bird from the robin Animal classification also advanced in the 16th
Americans recognize. century.
European Robin - Erithacus rubecula,
American Robin - Turdus migratorius. French naturalist Pierre Belon extensively
studied and catalogued birds. He was the
HISTORY OF ΤΑΧΟΝΟMY first to use adaptation to habitat to divide
Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees birds into such groups as aquatic birds,
wading birds , birds of prey, perching birds,
Traditionally, organisms were grouped by and land birds, categories still used
physical resemblances informally today.
Grouping plants, animals, and
microorganisms into increasingly broader 17th century
categories based on shared features. English naturalist John Ray was the first to
Aristotle 300s BC apply the character weighting method to
structural features in animals. He used key
Taxonomy is one of the oldest sciences, still characteristics, such as the shape and size of
a vigorous field full of new discoveries and the bird beak, to classify birds.
methods.
Great thinkers have shaped the course of Mid-1700s - Carolus Linnaeus
classification. Linnaeus (1707-1778) was born into a
An earliest classification schemes was religious family in a small town in rural
established by the Greek philosopher Småland. His father, a minister with a
Aristotle passion for plants, had a large garden
According to him complexity of life could through which he introduced his son to
be divided into a natural order based on botany. Linnaeus became enamored with
dichotomies. those with blood and those natural history and pursued this interest in
without blood, every subsequent educational setting. In
1727 he entered the University to study
Middle Ages: 5th century to the 15th century AD
medicine, largely because the training
Scholars translated the common names of included materia medica (the study of
organisms into Latin-at the time the botany). The following year, he studied in
language of educated persons. Uppsala because the university there had
These names were often long and better botanical holdings and a large
cumbersome, and included numerous community of botanists. Linnaeus
descriptive terms. This complex naming discovered problems in the systematic
process was simplified into a binomial, arrangement for botany and began to sketch
naming system in the mid-16th century to his own classification method as early as
known as herbalists.
An Introduction
16th-century
THE NEED FOR CLASSIFICATION
Italian botanist Andrea Cesalpino was the
Since life first appeared on Earth 3.5 billion first scientist to classify plants primarily
years ago according to structural characteristics, such
Many new types of organisms have evolved. as their fruits and seeds.
Many of these organisms have become He developed a method of character
extinct, while some have developed into the weighting in which he defined certain key
present fauna and flora of the world. characteristics that were important for
Extinction and diversification continue recognizing plant groups.
THE OVER ALL INCREASE IN This method was adapted by Swiss botanist
BIODIVERSITY Caspar Bauhin, who catalogued an extensive
10 million to 13 million species on Earth list of plants. More importantly, Bauhin was
THE CONFUSING REGIONAL NAMES the first to organize plants into a crude
the need for Binomial Nomenclature system that resembles modern genera and
The bird Europeans commonly call a robin species.
is a different species of bird from the robin Animal classification also advanced in the 16th
Americans recognize. century.
European Robin - Erithacus rubecula,
American Robin - Turdus migratorius. French naturalist Pierre Belon extensively
studied and catalogued birds. He was the
HISTORY OF ΤΑΧΟΝΟMY first to use adaptation to habitat to divide
Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees birds into such groups as aquatic birds,
wading birds , birds of prey, perching birds,
Traditionally, organisms were grouped by and land birds, categories still used
physical resemblances informally today.
Grouping plants, animals, and
microorganisms into increasingly broader 17th century
categories based on shared features. English naturalist John Ray was the first to
Aristotle 300s BC apply the character weighting method to
structural features in animals. He used key
Taxonomy is one of the oldest sciences, still characteristics, such as the shape and size of
a vigorous field full of new discoveries and the bird beak, to classify birds.
methods.
Great thinkers have shaped the course of Mid-1700s - Carolus Linnaeus
classification. Linnaeus (1707-1778) was born into a
An earliest classification schemes was religious family in a small town in rural
established by the Greek philosopher Småland. His father, a minister with a
Aristotle passion for plants, had a large garden
According to him complexity of life could through which he introduced his son to
be divided into a natural order based on botany. Linnaeus became enamored with
dichotomies. those with blood and those natural history and pursued this interest in
without blood, every subsequent educational setting. In
1727 he entered the University to study
Middle Ages: 5th century to the 15th century AD
medicine, largely because the training
Scholars translated the common names of included materia medica (the study of
organisms into Latin-at the time the botany). The following year, he studied in
language of educated persons. Uppsala because the university there had
These names were often long and better botanical holdings and a large
cumbersome, and included numerous community of botanists. Linnaeus
descriptive terms. This complex naming discovered problems in the systematic
process was simplified into a binomial, arrangement for botany and began to sketch
naming system in the mid-16th century to his own classification method as early as
