Carl Linnaeus was probably not the first scientist to realize the inherent connectedness of life on this planet. But he articulated and codified it. In the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, ...

New microbial genomes are constantly being sequenced, and it is crucial to accurately determine their taxonomic identities and evolutionary relationships. Here we report PhyloPhlAn, a new method to ...

Taxonomy is the science that attempts to categorise the many millions of species on Earth. Find out how to define taxonomy, what taxonomists do and why classifying life is so important. The definition ...

An artist’s reconstruction of Australopithecus afarensis, a species that can be called a hominid or a hominin. Image courtesy of Wikicommons If you follow news about human evolution, you’ve probably ...

Are species constructs of the human mind? -- Why is there a species problem? -- Is the biological species a class or is it an individual? -- What are traits in taxonomy? -- Diversity within the ...

Steve Nix is a member of the Society of American Foresters and a former forest resources analyst for the state of Alabama. Tree species and their names are a product of a two-part plant naming system ...

Initially after viruses were discovered there was no system for classifying viruses. Consequently viruses were named haphazardly. Most of the vertebrate viruses have been named according to: The ...