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Taxonomic rank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Taxonomic rank (rank, category, taxonomic category) is abstract term used in taxonomy used in scientific classification of organism. Taxonomic rank indicates the level of taxon in taxonomic hierarchy. Taxons ranked in certain taxonomic ranks are real groups of real organisms at real classification level.
Definition of taxonomic rank (there called only a rank) in International Code of Zoological Nomenclature:
| “ | The level, for nomenclatural purposes, of a taxon in a taxonomic hierarchy (e.g. all families are for nomenclatural purposes at the same rank, which lies between superfamily and subfamily). The ranks of the family group, the genus group, and the species group at which nominal taxa may be established are stated in Articles 10.3, 10.4, 35.1, 42.1 and 45.1. | ” |
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—International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1999) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Fourth Edition. - International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, XXIX + 306 pp. |
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Carl Linnaeus devised Linnaean taxonomy and he used five ranks: class, order, genus, species, and variety.
Today, nomenclature is regulated by Nomenclature Codes, which allows names divided into exactly defined ranks. Despite this there are slightly different ranks for zoology and different ranks for botany.
There are definition of following taxonomic ranks in International Code of Zoological Nomenclature: superfamily, family, subfamily, tribe, subtribe, genus, subgenus, species, subspecies.
There are definition of following taxonomic ranks in International Code of Botanical Nomenclature: kingdom (regnum), subregnum, division or phylum (divisio, phylum), subdivisio or subphylum, class (classis), subclassis, order (ordo), subordo, family (familia), subfamilia, tribe (tribus), subtribus, genus (genus), subgenus, section (sectio), subsectio, series (series), subseries, species (species), subspecies, variety (varietas), subvarietas, form (forma), subforma.
There are definition of following taxonomic ranks in International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants: cultivar group, cultivar.
There is 8 main taxonomic ranks: kingdom, phylum, division, class, order, family, genus, species.
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Main taxonomic ranks in more languages (zoology and botany) Latin English German Spanish French Arabic Japan regnum kingdom Reich reino règne مملكة phyllum phylum1 Stamm filo phylum شعبة divisio division2 Abteilung división embranchement classis class Klasse clase classe صنف ordo order Ordnung orden ordre رتبة 目 familia family Familie familia famille عائلة 科 genus genus Gattung género genre جنس 属 species species Art especie espèce نوع
- Notes to table
- 1 Phylum is used in zoology. It is at the same level as division in botany. 2 Preferred before to phylum in botany, that is accounted as identical.
The usual classifications of five species follow: the fruit fly so familiar in genetics laboratories (Drosophila melanogaster), humans (Homo sapiens), the peas used by Gregor Mendel in his discovery of genetics (Pisum sativum), the "fly agaric" mushroom Amanita muscaria, and the bacterium Escherichia coli. The eight major ranks are given in bold; a selection of minor ranks are given as well.
Table Notes:
- The ranks of higher taxa, especially intermediate ranks, are prone to revision as new information about relationships is discovered. For example, the traditional classification of primates (class Mammalia — subclass Theria — infraclass Eutheria — order Primates) has been modified by new classifications such as McKenna and Bell (class Mammalia — subclass Theriformes — infraclass Holotheria) with Theria and Eutheria assigned lower ranks between infraclass and the order Primates. See mammal classification for a discussion. These differences arise because there are only a small number of ranks available and a large number of branching points in the fossil record.
- Within species further units may be recognised. Animals may be classified into subspecies (for example, Homo sapiens sapiens, modern humans) or morphs (for example Corvus corax varius morpha leucophaeus, the Pied Raven). Plants may be classified into subspecies (for example, Pisum sativum subsp. sativum, the garden pea) or varieties (for example, Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon, snow pea), with cultivated plants getting a cultivar name (for example, Pisum sativum var. macrocarpon 'Snowbird'). Bacteria may be classified by strains (for example Escherichia coli O157:H7, a strain that can cause food poisoning).
- A mnemonic for remembering the order of the taxa is: Do Koalas Prefer Chocolate Or Fruit, Generally Speaking? Other mnemonics are available at [1] and [2].
Taxa above the genus level are often given names based on the type genus, with a standard termination. The terminations used in forming these names depend on the kingdom, and sometimes the phylum and class, as set out in the table below.
| Rank | Plants | Algae | Fungi | Animals | Bacteria[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division/Phylum | -phyta | -mycota | |||
| Subdivision/Subphylum | -phytina | -mycotina | |||
| Class | -opsida | -phyceae | -mycetes | -ia | |
| Subclass | -idae | -phycidae | -mycetidae | -idae | |
| Superorder | -anae | ||||
| Order | -ales | -ales | |||
| Suborder | -ineae | -ineae | |||
| Infraorder | -aria | ||||
| Superfamily | -acea | -oidea | |||
| Epifamily | -oidae | ||||
| Family | -aceae | -idae | -aceae | ||
| Subfamily | -oideae | -inae | -oideae | ||
| Infrafamily | -odd[verification needed] | ||||
| Tribe | -eae | -ini | -eae | ||
| Subtribe | -inae | -ina | -inae | ||
| Infratribe | -ad | ||||
Table notes:
- In botany and mycology names at the rank of family and below are based on the name of a genus, sometimes called the type genus of that taxon, with a standard ending. For example, the rose family Rosaceae is named after the genus Rosa, with the standard ending "-aceae" for a family. Names above the rank of family are formed from a family name, or are descriptive (like Gymnospermae or Fungi).
- For animals, there are standard suffixes for taxa only up to the rank of superfamily.[4]
- Forming a name based on a generic name may be not straightforward. For example, the Latin "homo" has the genitive "hominis", thus the genus "Homo" (human) is in the Hominidae, not "Homidae".
- The ranks of epifamily, infrafamily and infratribe (in animals) are used where the complexities of phyletic branching require finer-than-usual distinctions. Although they fall below the rank of superfamily, they are not regulated under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and hence do not have formal standard endings. The suffixes listed here are regular, but informal.[5]
There are written all taxonomic ranks including those ones that are not in use today or those ones that are identical with another ranks.
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All taxonomic ranks in more languages (zoology and botany) Latin English German French Notes superdomain regio domain Domäne domaine subdomain infradomain imperium empire empire superregnum superkingdom suprakingdom midkingdom regnum kingdom Reich règne subregnum subkingdom Unterreich sous-règne interkingdom branch infrakingdom superphyllum superphylum Stammgruppe, Überstamm super-phylum supraphylum midphylum phyllum phylum Stamm phylum subphyllum subphylum Unterstamm sous-phylum infraphyllum infraphylum divisio division1 Abteilung embranchement, division subdivisio subdivision1 Unterabteilung sous-embranchement claudius claudius superclassis superclass Überklasse super-classe grade Reihe classis class Klasse classe subclassis subclass Unterklasse sous-classe infraclass infra-classe parvclassis parvclass superdivisio superdivision2 Überabteilung super-embranchment divisio division2 Abteilung embranchement, division subdivisio subdivision2 Unterabteilung sous-embranchement sectio section2 subsection2 group subgroup superlegion legio legion sublegion infralegion supercohos supercohort cohors cohort subcohors subcohort magnorder superordo superorder Überordnung superordre series subseries grandorder gigaorder megaorder mirorder ordo order Ordnung ordre hyperordo hyperorder subordo suborder Unterordnung sous-ordre infraordo infraorder Infraordnung infraordre parvorder falanx cohors cohort superfamilia superfamily Überfamilie superfamille family group familia family Familie famille subfamily group subfamilia subfamily Unterfamilie sous-famille infrafamily supertribus supertribe tribus tribe Tribus tribu subtribus subtribe Subtribus sous-tribu infratribe supergenus supergenus genus group genus genus Gattung genre subgenus subgenus Untergattung sous-genre infragenus supersectio supersection1 sectio section1 section subsectio subsection1 infrasection1 superseries1 series series1 série subseries1 infraseries1 superspecies superspecies complex species group species subgroup aggregate synklepton species species Art espèce microspecies klepton klepton aggregate subspecies subspecies Unterart (Rasse) sous-espèce infraspecies group hybrid hybrid convarietas convariety supervarietas supervariety varietas variety Varietät variété subvarietas subvariety infravariety natio superforma superform forma, morpha form Zuchtform forme subforma subform infraform cultivar group cultivar group of breeds section of breeds breed, race strain aberratio aberration serogroup serotype sérovar biotype biovar pathotype pathovar population lusus lusus
- Notes to table
- 1 Level in plant taxonomy. 2 Level in animal taxonomy.