Taxonomy
taxonomy (noun, pl. taxonomies) – the science of naming species; ideally taxonomy should reflect the phylogeny of a group of species; nevertheless, the evidence that has been used for naming taxa has traditionally been based upon descriptive characters such as morphology, anatomy, ultrastructure or even chemistry; more recently molecular studies have demonstrated that classical taxonomies deducted from descriptive characters are not always reliable; classical data must therefore be evaluated using molecular evidence analyzed by cladistic methods before new taxonomies are introduced. Related terms: biological classification, classification, Linnaean system, cladistics, phylogeny, nomenclature.
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