Scientific classification

Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. Modern classification has its roots in the system of Carolus Linnaeus, who grouped species according to shared physical characteristics. These groupings have been revised since Linnaeus to improve consistency with the Darwinian principle of common descent. Molecular systematics, which uses genomic DNA analysis, has driven many recent revisions and is likely to continue to do so. Scientific classification belongs to the science of taxonomy or biological systematics.

Early systems

The earliest known system of classifying forms of life comes from the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who classified animals based on their means of transportation (air, land, or water).

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In 1172 Ibn Rushd (Averroes), who was a judge (Qaadi) in Seville, translated and abridged Aristotle's book de Anima (On Animals) into Arabic. His original commentary is now lost, but its translation into Latin by Michael Scot survives.

Related Topics:
Averroes - Qaadi - Seville - Michael Scot

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An important advance was made by the Swiss professor, Conrad von Gesner (1516–1565). Gesner's work was a critical compilation of life known at the time.

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The exploration of parts of the New World next brought to hand descriptions and specimens of many novel forms of animal life. In the latter part of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th, careful study of animals commenced, which, directed first to familiar kinds, was gradually extended until it formed a sufficient body of knowledge to serve as an anatomical basis for classification. Advances in using this knowledge to classify living beings bear a debt to the research of medical anatomists, such as Fabricius (1537–1619), Petrus Severinus (1580–1656), William Harvey (1578–1657), and Edward Tyson (1649–1708). Advances in classification due to the work of entomologists and the first microscopists is due to the research of people like Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694), Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680), and Robert Hooke (1635–1702).

Related Topics:
New World - Fabricius - Petrus Severinus - William Harvey - Edward Tyson - Entomologist - Marcello Malpighi - Jan Swammerdam - Robert Hooke

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John Ray (1627–1705) was an English naturalist who published important works on plants, animals, and natural theology. The approach he took to the classification of plants in his Historia Plantarum was an important step towards modern taxonomy. Ray rejected the system of dichotomous division by which species were classified according to a pre-conceived, either/or type system, and instead classified plants according to similarities and differences that emerged from observation.

Related Topics:
John Ray - Historia Plantarum

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Linnaeus

Two years after John Ray's death, Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) was born. His great work, the Systema Naturae, ran through twelve editions during his lifetime (1st ed. 1735). In this work nature was divided into three realms: mineral, vegetable and animal. Linnaeus used four ranks: class, order, genus, and species.

Related Topics:
Carolus Linnaeus - Systema Naturae

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Linnaeus is best known for his introduction of the method still used to formulate the scientific name of every species. Before Linnaeus, long many-worded names had been used, but as these names gave a description of the species, they were not fixed. By consistently using a two-word Latin name — the genus name followed by the specific epithet — Linnaeus separated nomenclature from taxonomy. This convention for naming species is referred to as binomial nomenclature.

Related Topics:
Scientific name - Binomial nomenclature

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Today, nomenclature is regulated by Nomenclature Codes, which allows names divided into ranks: see rank (botany) and rank (zoology).

Related Topics:
Nomenclature Codes - Rank (botany) - Rank (zoology)

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