Biology
Ranks and Taxonomical Aids: Quick Revision
A brief note on Taxonomic Categories and Taxonomical Aids: the seven ranks, what a species and a taxon are, how big each rank is, and the herbarium, botanical garden, museum, zoo, key, flora, manual and monograph. With a worked example, practice, a program and questions to check yourself.
Written by StemPy LabA brief note on Ranks and Taxonomical Aids. Try each question at the end before you open its answer.
The ranks
From the smallest: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum (a division in plants), kingdom. A group at any rank is a taxon.
- A species has fundamental similarities, and its members can have young that can also have young.
- Going up, a group holds more organisms that share fewer features.
- Rough sizes above the human: Homo 1 living species, Hominidae about 8, Primata about 500, Mammalia about 6,500, Chordata about 70,000, Animalia about 1.5 million.
The aids
| Aid | What it holds or gives |
|---|---|
| Herbarium | dried, pressed plants on sheets, with labels |
| Botanical garden | living plants, with labels (Kew, Howrah, Lucknow) |
| Museum | preserved specimens: insects pinned, birds and mammals stuffed, skeletons |
| Zoological park | live wild animals under care |
| Key | couplets of contrasting characters; accept one lead, reject the other |
| Flora, manual, monograph | an area's plants; names in an area; one taxon |
A worked example
Place the peacock (Pavo cristatus) and the red junglefowl (Gallus gallus) on the ladder.
- Both: Animalia, Chordata, Aves, Galliformes, Phasianidae.
- First difference: the genus, Pavo and Gallus.
- So they share five ranks, down to the family Phasianidae.
Practice with new numbers
A program to try
The program finds the ranks that the peacock and the junglefowl share.
Mistakes to avoid
- Mixing up class and order. The order comes below the class.
- Calling the plant rank a phylum. It is a division.
- Mixing up a herbarium and a botanical garden. Dried plants against living plants.
- Mixing up a flora and a monograph. An area against one taxon.
Check yourself
- Where would you see a living specimen of a rare tree, with its botanical name on a label?
- Which rank lies between the class and the family?
- A couplet in a key offers two leads. What do you do with them?
- Why does the kingdom Animalia hold far more species than the phylum Chordata?
Discussion (0)
Log in to join the discussion.
Loading…