Chapter 16: Classification Flashcards
Species are named by scientific names because…
There are countless common names for one species.
Renaissance & Exploration Period
- The Language was Latin
- Standard system of naming gave everything a Latin name
- genus is Latin for kind
- Names were polynomial
Mentha
Latin for mint
Carolus Linnaeus
- Scholar in southern Sweden
- 1707-1778
- Became a professor of botany and medicine
- He had a goal of classifying and describing all known plant species
- He wrote a book called Species Plantarum
Species Plantarum
- Grouped by genus
- He grouped the plants by similarity
- He presented a simplified polynomial name with no more than 12 words.
- Added abbreviated specific epithet
- Grouped by how many spamens they had
- Organized so people can fin a plant in the book
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
1867
- Botanists agreed on specific rules for naming that would apply to all languages
Binomial Nomanclature
Two Words
One is a noun
First name is genus name and it is capitalized
Second name is the specific epithet and it is not capitalized
Always italicized or underlined
Official Name
3 words
Last word is the author who named it
What if the name (species) changed?
The name of the first author is in parenthesis to reference the initial person who found the plant
For example Tsuga mertensiana (Bong.) Carr.
The first name becomes an invalid Jr. synonym
To officially describe a new species:
- Published a detailed description in Latin
- Deposit a type specimen in a museum herbarium (holotype)
Paratype
Higher taxonomic levels in botany should match the species name:
For example:
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:
Taxonomy in Botany
Things are being changes due to molecular genetics
Strong push to just name clades
