Lecture 2 Flashcards
etymology
the study of word origins
taxonomy
the practice of classifying organisms
systematics
the theory of classifying organisms
nomenclature
a system of rules for naming things
ethnotaxonomy
explains how different cultures classify plants and animals
3 problems with common names
- common names can differ
- same name for different species
- common name may imply incorrect relationships
Carl Linnaeus
swedish botanist (1707-1778) book Systema Naturae
2 parts of Linnaean system
- use of Latin as universal language of scientific nomenclature
- use of unique binomen for each species
2 parts of species name
genus and specific epithet
taxa
groups of organisms
8 taxonomic levels
domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
genus and specific epithet format
italicized
taxon names capitalized
nouns capitalized, adjectives lowercase
abbreviation
genus may be abbreviated
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)
1905 international meeting decided on a set of rules for naming species
separate codes
plants/algae/fungi and bacteria
January 1 1758
first day that published binomials are considered official
senior synonym
oldest published name for a taxon has priority
taxon author
the person who originally described the taxon
reuse of taxon names
once a name for a taxon has
been published, even incorrectly, it can never be
used for another taxon
senior homonym
if the same name is used for two different
taxa, oldest name wins
same names from different codes
not homonyms
specific epithet sharing
can be shared, but not in the same genus
naming alphabet
latin