Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the academic discipline of describing collections of biological organisms on the basis of shared characteristics and giving names to those collections. Each and every group is given a rank and groups of a given rank can be aggregated to form a super group of higher rank and therefore create a hierarchical classification. The groups created through this procedure are referred to as taxa. The example of a modern classification is the one which is published in 2009 through the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group for all living flowering plant families.

The definition of a taxon is wrapped through its explanation. There are no set rules governing the definition of taxa but the publication and naming of new taxa is governed through collections of rules. In zoology the nomenclature for the more usually used ranks, is regulated through the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. In the area of botany, phycology and mycology the naming of taxa is governed through the International Code of Nomenclature for fungi, algae and plants.