Taxonomic categories

Taxonomic categories

Any one of a number of formal ranks used for organisms in a traditional Linnaean classification. Biological classifications are orderly arrangements of organisms in which the order specifies some relationship. Taxonomic classifications are usually hierarchical and comprise nested groups of organisms. The actual groups are termed taxa. In the hierarchy, a higher taxon may include one or more lower taxa, and as a result the relationships among taxa are expressed as a divergent hierarchy that is formally represented by tree diagrams. In Linnaean classifications, taxonomic categories are devices that provide structure to the hierarchy of taxa without the use of tree diagrams. By agreement, there is a hierarchy of categorical ranks for each major group of organisms, beginning with the categories of highest rank and ending with categories of lowest rank, and while it is not necessary to use all the available categories, they must be used in the correct order (see table).

Conceptually, the hierarchy of categories is different than the hierarchy of taxa. For example, the taxon Cnidaria, which is ranked as a phylum, includes the classes Anthozoa (anemones), Scyphozoa (jellyfishes), and Hydrozoa (hydras). Cnidaria is

a particular and concrete group that is composed of parts. Anthozoa is part of, and included in, Cnidaria. However, categorical ranks are quite different. The category “class” is not part of, nor included in, the category “phylum.” Rather, the category “class” is a shelf in the hierarchy, a roadmark of relative position. There are many animal taxa ranked as classes, but there is only one “class” in the Linnaean hierarchy. This is an important strength of the system because it provides a way to navigate through a classification while keeping track of relative hierarchical levels with only a few ranks for a great number of organisms.

When Linnaeus invented his categories, there were only class, order, family, genus, and species. These were sufficient to serve the needs of biological diversity in the late eighteenth century, but were quite insufficient to classify the increasing number of species discovered since 1758. As a result, additional categorical levels have been created. These categories may use prefixes, such as super- and sub-, as well as new basic levels such as tribe. An example of a modern expanded botanical hierarchy of ranks between family and species is:

Familia

Subfamilia

Tribus

Subtribus

Genus

Subgenus

Sectio

Subsectio

Series

Subseries

Species

Linnaean categories are the traditional devices used to navigate the hierarchy of taxa. But categories are only conventions, and alternative logical systems, such as those used by phylogenetic systematists (cladists), are frequently used. See Animal systematics, Classification, biological, Phylogeny, Plant taxonomy, Zoological nomenclature