Results for “taxon”

taxon

A taxonomic group or category of any rank, such as a species, genus family, or class.

Used in 42 profiles

taxonomic

Of or relating to taxonomy.

Used in 195 profiles

nominal taxon

A nomenclatural concept denoted by an available name used in an original description, and based, actually or potentially, upon its name-bearing type but having no defined taxonomic boundaries. Often used when the precise definition of a species or genus is unclear, such as when a name may refer to more than one taxon and is therefore in need of clarification.

Used in 33 profiles

nominotypical taxon

Nominal, subordinate taxon within a family, genus, or species group that contains the name-bearing type taxon within that group that has been divided.

sensu stricto

Latin term meaning "in the strict sense". Used in conjunction with a taxonomic name to indicate exclusion of other names typically associated with it, or when referring to a taxon only in terms of its subordinate nominotypical taxon.

Used in 106 profiles

cf.

Abbreviation of the word 'confer', meaning 'compare with'. Used in the fields of systematics and taxonomy to denote specimens or populations that resemble a described taxon but differ in some respects and thus may or may not represent a distinct species.

classification

In taxonomy, the arrangement of organisms into taxonomic groups according to their degree of evolutionary relatedness.

Used in 50 profiles

revision

In taxonomy, a paper or study concerned with changes, amendments or corrections to a particular taxonomic group.

Used in 113 profiles

species

Taxonomic rank into which a genus is divided, but otherwise difficult to delineate precisely with a single definition satisfying all eventualities still lacking to date. There exist a number of concepts of which the most popular in vertebrate taxonomy include the biological species concept and phylogenetic species concept.

Used in 1,790 profiles

synonym

In zoological nomenclature, any of two or more names of the same taxonomic rank used to denote the same taxon. Names referred to as synonyms are not usually valid in the current sense.

Used in 204 profiles

polyphyletic

Relating to or characterised by descent from more than one ancestral form. A polyphyletic taxon is therefore one whose members' last common ancestor is not a member of the taxon.

Used in 275 profiles

vernacular name

Local; common; colloquial name of an animal or plant taxon. The name of a taxon in any language other than that of zoological nomenclature.

Used in 146 profiles

adaptive radiation

Speciation of a taxonomic group into several forms, each specialised to fill a previously vacant ecological niche, as exemplified by Rift Lake cichlids, for example.

Used in 60 profiles

aff.

Abbreviation of the word 'affinis', meaning related but not identical to. Used in the fields of systematics and taxonomy when referring to undescribed specimens or populations that resemble, but are clearly different to, a described species.

cladistics

Taxonomical method used to classify species of organisms into clades, each of which contains an ancestor organism and all its descendants, based on synapomorphies (shared derived characters). Cladistic classifications are usually presented in the form of a cladogram.

cotype

Term formerly used in zoological taxonomy and equivalent to the modern terms syntype and paratype but no longer valid according to the ICZN code.

etymology

Branch of linguistics concerned with the origin and development of words. Used in taxonomy when referring to the basis and meaning of a scientific name.

Used in 27 profiles

extinct

Of a species or other taxonomic grouping, having no living members; no longer in existence.

Used in 22 profiles

family

Taxonomic rank below order and above genus. Contains one or more genera.

Used in 686 profiles

generic name

The scientific name of a taxon with the rank of genus; the first part of a binomen or trinomen.

Used in 299 profiles