NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Family (taxonomy)

In biological classification, family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is 1) a rank or 2) a taxon in that rank. Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... A taxon (plural taxa), or taxonomic unit, is a grouping of organisms (named or unnamed). ...

Next only to species and genus, the family is the most important rank in taxonomy. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code which applies, see scientific classification and: This article is about the walnut tree. ... Species See text Comparison of Carya nuts Ripe hickory nuts ready to fall, Andrews, SC Hickory is a tree of the genus Carya, including 17-19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. ... Genera Alfaroa Annamocarya (beaked hickory) Carya (hickory and pecan) Cyclocarya (wheel wingnut) Engelhardia (cheo) Juglans (walnut) Oreomunnia Platycarya Pterocarya (wingnut) The Juglandaceae are a family of dicotyledonous trees in the order Fagales. ... In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biodiversity. ... In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic grouping. ... Taxonomy, sometimes alpha taxonomy, is the science of finding, describing and naming organisms, thus giving rise to taxa. ... Nomenclature Codes, the Codes governing biological nomenclature: the ICBN, ICZN, ICNB, etc. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ...

In botanical nomenclature, a taxon is usually assigned to a rank in a hierarchy. ... In zoology, a taxon is usually assigned to a rank in a hierarchy. ... Virus classification involves naming and placing viruses into a taxonomic system. ...

History of the concept

Family, as a rank intermediate between order and genus, is a relatively recent invention. Scientific classification or biological classification refers to how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a taxonomic grouping. ...

The term familia was coined by French botanist Pierre Magnol in his Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur (1689) where he called families (familiae) the seventy-six groups of plants he recognised in his tables. The concept of rank at that time was still in statu nascendi, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, which is far from how the term is used today. Pierre Magnol (1638 - 1715) was a doctor and botanist who was one of the innovators of the current botanical scheme of classification. ... Events Louis XIV of France passed the Code Noir, allowing the full use of slaves in the French colonies. ...

Carolus Linnaeus used the word familia in his Philosophia botanica (1751) to denote major groups of plants; trees, herbs, ferns, palms, etc. He used this term only in the morphological section of the book, discussing the vegetative and generative organs of plants. Subsequently, in French botanical publications, from Michel Adanson's Familles naturelles des plantes (1763) and until the end of the 19th century, the word famille was used as a French equivalent of the Latin ordo. It should be noted that the word ordo in nineteenth century works such as the Prodromus of de Candolle and the Genera Plantarum of Bentham & Hooker was used for what now is given the rank of family (see ordo naturalis). Carolus Linnaeus, also known after his ennoblement as , (May 23, 1707 â€“ January 10, 1778), was a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist[1] who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature. ... Events Adam Smith is appointed professor of logic at the University of Glasgow March 25 - For the last time, New Years Day is legally on March 25 in England and Wales. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tree (disambiguation). ... This article is about the plants used in cooking and medicine. ... Ferns could be the plural of fern, a type of plant that reproduces using spores rather than seeds. ... Genera Many; see list of Arecaceae genera Arecaceae (also known as Palmae or Palmaceae), the palm family, is a family of flowering plants, belonging to the monocot order Arecales. ... Hi I am Adanson. ... 1763 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... An early taxonomic system, the de Candolle system was originally published in : A.P. de Candolle (2nd edition, 1819). ... An early taxonomic system, the Bentham & Hooker system for seed plants was published in : G. Bentham & J.D. Hooker (three volumes, 1862â€“1883). ... In botany, the phrase ordo naturalis, natural order, was once used for what today is a family. ...

In zoology, the family as a rank intermediate between order and genus was introduced by Pierre André Latreille in his Précis des caractères génériques des insectes, disposés dans un ordre naturel (1796). He used families (part of them not named) in some but not in all his orders of "insects" (which then included all arthropods). Pierre AndrÃ© Latreille. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - Trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - Spiders, Scorpions, etc. ...

Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the term has been consistently used in its modern sense. Its usage and characteristic ending of the names belonging to this category are defined in the Codes of botanical and zoological nomenclature. The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) is the set of rules that governs plant nomenclature, i. ... The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in classifying all animals according to taxonomic judgment. ...

See also