Linnaean taxonomy

Linnaean taxonomy can mean either of two related concepts:

<ol><li>The particular form of <a href="/facts/Taxonomy_(biology)/Qkg8wuyw">biological classification</a> (taxonomy) set up by <a href="/facts/Carl_Linnaeus/gy5HWkHS">Carl Linnaeus</a>, as set forth in his <a href="/facts/Systema_Naturae/8o4rU1DD">Systema Naturae</a> (1735) and subsequent works. In the taxonomy of Linnaeus there are three kingdoms, divided into classes, and the classes divided into lower ranks in a hierarchical order.</li>
<li>A term for rank-based classification of organisms, in general. That is, taxonomy in the traditional sense of the word: rank-based <a href="/facts/Scientific_classification/Qkg8wuyw">scientific classification</a>. This term is especially used as opposed to <a href="/facts/Cladistics/JasKVABk">cladistic</a> systematics, which groups organisms into <a href="/facts/Clade/XefyYmWn">clades</a>. It is attributed to Linnaeus, although he neither invented the concept of ranked classification (it goes back to <a href="/facts/Plato/jGtT1UD5">Plato</a> and <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a>) nor gave it its present form. In fact, it does not have an exact present form, as "Linnaean taxonomy" as such does not really exist: it is a collective (abstracting) term for what actually are several separate fields, which use similar approaches.</li></ol>
Linnaean name also has two meanings, depending on the context: it may either refer to a formal name given by Linnaeus (personally), such as <a href="/facts/Giraffa_camelopardalis/A1GfIhwb">Giraffa camelopardalis Linnaeus, 1758</a>; or a formal name in the accepted nomenclature (as opposed to a modernistic <a href="/facts/Clade/XefyYmWn">clade</a> name).

Linnaean taxonomy open-in-new

Linnaean taxonomy