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Biology vocabulary · Evolution and Classification

Taxonomy

Meaning in biology, with examples

/tækˈsɑːnəmi/nounCommon term

In biology, taxonomy means: The science of naming, describing and classifying organisms into groups based on their shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships.

In Turkish: taksonomi, sınıflandırma, sistematik

How it is used

The main ranks, from broadest to narrowest, are domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. A scientist in this field is a taxonomist. Carl Linnaeus introduced the two-part naming system (binomial nomenclature) still used today.

Example sentences

  1. The taxonomy of this group was revised after DNA studies revealed unexpected relationships.

  2. She is a taxonomist who has described more than 40 new beetle species.

Common collocations

  • plant taxonomy
  • taxonomic group
  • taxonomic rank
  • binomial nomenclature
  • speciesA group of similar organisms that can breed with each other and produce fertile offspring. It is the basic unit used to classify living things.
  • phylogenetic treeA branching diagram that shows the evolutionary relationships among species or genes, based on how recently they shared a common ancestor.
  • common ancestorAn earlier species from which two or more later species have descended. The more recently two species shared a common ancestor, the more closely related they are.
  • evolutionThe change in the inherited traits of populations over many generations. It explains how all living species descend from earlier forms of life.

More terms: Evolution and Classification

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