1.The term taxonomy was coined by – A.P. Candolle
2.Father of taxonomy – Carolus Linnaeus
3.Father of Indian taxonomy – H. Santapau
4.They are also known as Linnaean hierarchy.
5.There are 7 main taxonomic categories.
It is defined as the sequence of categories in a decreasing orincreasing which is from the highest kingdom to thelowest species.
The hierarchy has two categoriesi.e.,obligate and intermediate. Obligate is the one whichis followed strictly and ranges from kingdom to species.Intermediate is not followed strictly and they. Also they are added in obligate lists like subdivision,superfamily, super class, suborder, subspecies etc.a.
a.Species:It is the smallest taxonomic category.It is the basic unit of classification. It is thegroup ofpopulation which is similar in shape, form and reproductivefeatures. Due to the same reproductive features,fertile siblings can be produced.
b. Genus:It is an assembly of groups of similarspecies which are involved from a common ancestorand havecertain common characters called correlated characters.But it is not mandatory to have many species.Monotypic genera have only one species. Polytypicgenera have more than one species. For example, catandleopards are put in the genus Panthera.
c. Family:It is the collection of similar genera.Families are characterised on the basis of reproductiveandvegetative features. For example, lions and tigersare included in the family felidae.
d. Order:Being a higher category is the assemblyof one or more than one similar family. Family Felidaeareincluded in the order Carnivora.
e. Class:A class is a subdivision within a phylummade of one or more than one order. Class Mammaliaincludes all mammals which are monkey, gorilla, gibbonand man.
f. Phylum:It comprises a collection of similar classes.Phylum Chordata of animals has class Mammalia alongwith fishes, reptiles, birds, and amphibians.
g. Kingdom:All animals belonging to various phylaare assigned to the top most taxonomic category calledkingdom. Example all animals are included in KingdomAnimalia. All plants are included in kingdom Plantae.The unit that denotes grouping of organisms basedon observable features is known as Taxon.
