Recently, interest in phylogeny has received a new impetus, as our rapidly growing knowledge of genetics and molecular evolution is providing a new approach, a new source of evidence about the course of evolution. Molecules can be used in different ways. For example, theoretically, the total genes of two different species can be compared. The [...]
The primary aim of a taxonomist must be the construction of classes of living things about which scientifically useful inductive generalisations can be made. Many workers have enumerated various aims and tasks of a taxonomists. For the sake of convenience to readers, there are summarised below. 1. To catalogue the diversity of life on earth [...]
It is now well-known that taxonomy of a given group passes through several stages. These stages are referred to as alpha (analytical phase), beta (synthetic phase), and gamma (biological phase) taxonomy. Alpha taxonomy is the level at which the species are characterised and named; beta taxonomy refers to the arrangement of the species into a [...]
The word taxonomy is derived from the Greek words taxis (= arrangement) and numos (=law). It was first coined by A.P. de Candolle, a Professor of Montpellier University in France, in his Botany treatise in 1813, as a French Word “Taxononomie”, evidently formed on the analogue of astronomie, economie, agronomie and other similar words. The [...]
