TAXONOMY
ETYMOLOGY: TAXO: Arrangements NOMIA: LAW
I-
WHAT IS
THE FUNCTION OF TAXONOMY?
Taxonomy is the
classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural
relationships
1.
HISTORY
The history of
taxonomy dates back to the origin of human language. Western scientific
taxonomy started in Greek some hundred years BC and are here divided into
prelinnaean and post Linnaean. The most important works are cited and the progress
of taxonomy (with the focus on botanical taxonomy) is described up to the era
of the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who founded modern taxonomy. The
development after Linnaeus is characterized by a taxonomy that increasingly
have come to reflect the paradigm of evolution. The used characters have
extended from morphological to molecular. Nomenclatural rules have developed
strongly during the 19th and 20th century, and during the last decade
traditional nomenclature has been challenged by advocates of the Phylocode.
1.1
Earliest
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is as old as the language skill of mankind.
When we speak about ancient taxonomy we usually mean the history in the western
world. However, the earliest traces are not from the west, but from the east.
Shen Nung, Emperor of China around 3000 bc was a legendary emperor known as the
Father of Chinese medicine and is believed to have introduced acupuncture. He wanted
to educate his people in agriculture and medicine and is said to have tasted
hundreds of herbs to test their medicinal value. In the Eastern world, one of
the earliest pharmacopoeias was written. Around 1500 BC medicinal plants were
illustrated on wall paintings in Egypt. The paintings gives us knowledge about
medicinal plants in old Egypt and their
names. In one of the oldest and largest papyrus rolls, Ebers Papyrus, plants
are included as medicines for different diseases. They have local
names such as "celery of the hill country"
and "celery of the delta", species of Apiaceae that Egyptian doctors
had to be able to distinguish in the field. 1.3 The
HerbalistsWith the art of book printing in Europe new books could be made in
large numbers. This was the time of the different herbals written by herbalists
like Brunfels, Bock, Fuchs, Mattioli, Turner, L’Obel,
Gerard, L’Ecluse. We recognize some of these authors
in beautiful plants later named by Linnaeus in honour of them: Brunfelsia,
Mattiolia, Turnera, Lobelia, Gerardia and Fuchsia. There is usually not much of
a classification in the herbals, and the earliest works were merely copying
Theophrastos and Dioscorides. With time the herbals became more and more
original with more elaborate woodcuts as illustrations. 2.1. Starting
point of modern taxonomy. For nomenclatural reasons two works of Carl Linnaeus
(1707–1778, Fig. 4) are regarded as the starting points of modern botanical and
zoological taxonomy: the global flora Species Plantarum, published in 1753 and
the tenth edition of Systema Naturae in 1758 including global fauna. The reason
for this is that Linnaeus introduced in these books a binary form of species
names called "trivial names" for both plants and animals. For each
species he created an epithet that could be used together with the genus name.
The trivial names were intended for fieldwork and education, and not to replace
the earlier phrase names. The phrase names included a description of the
species that
distinguished it from other known species in the
genus. With an expanded knowledge of the global fauna and flora through 17th
and 18th century scientific expeditions, a large number of new species were
found and named, and more terms had to be added to each phrase name. By the
time of Linnaeus the situation was really bad. Linnaeus counted 8530 species of
flowering plants in 1753. 2.2 Transforming botany and zoology into a science. Carl
Linnaeus started his career by publishing a system of all living things and
minerals in 1735 called Systema Naturae. In this he introduced the sexual
system of plants, an artificial classification based on the sexual parts of the
flower: the stamens and pistils. In a time when people debated whether plants had
sexuality or not, this suggestion from an unknown person not belonging to any
classical European school of natural sciences more or less shocked the
scientific world. However, the practical use of the system and Linnaeus careful
observations persuaded the critics and Linnaeus sexual system of plants became
the highest fashion also outside the scientific community. 3.1. Natural system emerging in France
One of the few countries in which the Linnaean
systematics did not make success was France. The French stuck to Tournefourt
and continued to work on a development of the natural system. Four French
scientists emerged that made an impact on future biological sciences.
3.2. Rules for nomenclature
One of the first attempts to create rules in botanical
taxonomy was made by Augustin Pyramus de
Candolle (1778–1841) in Théory élémentaire de la botanique in 1813. There he
stated that published names should have priority according to the date of publication,
starting with Linnaeus (withouth mentioning a particular year). The English did
not follow that rule. On a congress in Paris, 100 botanists adopted the rules
in a book by the son Alphons de Candolle (1806–1873), Lois de nomenclature
adoptee from 1867. The rules were thereafter discussed and different starting
points for botanical taxonomy were suggested. During the years 1891 to 1898 the
German botanist Otto Kuntze (1843–1907) published the controversial work
Revisio generum Plantarum, in which he applied
Candolle's laws from 1867 rigidly. He changed 1000
generic names and 30 000 species names.
http://atbi.eu/summerschool/files/summerschool/Manktelow_Syllabus.pdf
2.
DEFINITION
Taxonomy is the
classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural
relationships
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/taxonomy
3.
FUNCTION
The function of
taxonomy is to provide a theory for scientists to classify animals and plants
of the world.
4.
SCIENTIST
INVOLVED
Aristotle (384-322
BC)
Theophrastus (372-287
BC)
Dioscorides (40–90
AD)
Plinius (23–79 AD)
Andrea Cesalpino
(1519-1603)
Gaspard Bauhin
(1560-1620)
Carl (Carolus) Linnaeus (1707-1778)
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