Taxonomy

Briefly Discussed

 

Ø Introduction of taxonomy

The “science of the classification of organisms according to their resemblances and differences”is the definition of taxonomy as stated by Abercrombie et al.(1980) in the 7^th edition of the Penguin Dictionary of Biology. According to them the word systematic is “often used synonymously with taxonomy, but sometimes interpreted more widely to include also the identification , practice of classification and nomenclature”. Andrew Sugden  of Longman’s Illustrated Dictionary ofBotany defined taxonomy as “the science of classification and relationships of organisms”, and systematic  as “the part of classification that involves the arrangement of organisms into related groups”.

However,the terms taxonomy and systematic have been so loosely and interchangeably used in the past that to establish a proper delineation between the two is extremely difficult. In actual practice, and also in the present text, the two terms are used synonymously and deal with the study of classification , its principles ,procedures and rules.Lam and Turrill also used them as synonyms.

The Greek meaning of taxonomy is “arrangement by rules” and of systematic is “to put together”.The term taxonomy was first coined and used by the famous French botanist A.P de Candolle in 1813 in his book Theorie Elementaire de la Botanique.

Ø History of Taxonomy  

Theophrastus , ‘the grandfather of the modern Botany’, was the greatest botanical  writer of the distant past. He was a student of Plato and Aristotle,and studied botany under their philosophic guidance at Athens. He classified the plants into four groups: herbs, subshrubs, shrubs, and trees. He also distinguished between the nonflowering plants and flowering plants.

Ø Taxonomy in Middle Ages

Little is known about the development of taxonomy during the early 1thousand years of the Christian era. Then came the Middle Ages. Albertus Magnus has been the most famous plant taxonomy worker of this period. Commonly called “Doctor Universalis” or “ Aristotle of the Middle Ages” by his contemporaries and historians, Magnus employed a scheme of classification of plants that recognised monocots and dicots, and separated nonvascular plants from vascular plants.

Ø Botanical Survey of India

George King, the Chief Excutive Officers of the Royal Botanic Gardens, established the Botanical Survey of India in 1890 with the main objective to coordinate the botanical work, being done in different parts of India at that time.The publication of a journal The Records of the Botanical Survey of India was aiso started by George King.

A senior scientist of BSI is also posted at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to maintain a link between the two organitations as well as for many technical inquiries and clarification regarding nomenclature.

Some of the major publication of BSI include the Bulletin of Botanical Survey of India. The Records of the Botanical Survey of India, Annual Reports of BSI, and Newsletters. During the last 50yrs, over 4000 research papers have been published by the scientists of BSI,and the Herbaria of the  Survey hold over 2 million plant specimens.

Ø CONCEPT OF TAXA

Taxon may be defined as “a named taxonomic group of any rank”.The term “taxon ” was actually coined to replace clumsy phrases such as taxonomic entity and taxonomic unit, the organisms contained within a rank can also be reffered to as taxa.