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A Handbook of Biology

DÏVËRSÏTÝ ÏÑ THË LÏVÏÑG WØRLD

The number

and types of

organisms

present on

earth refer to

biodiversity.

Number

of species

described is

1.7-1.8 million.

Systematics

(Taxonomy)

is the study of

identification,

classification &

nomenclature of

organisms.

Systema

Naturae is the

book written by

Linnaeus.

BÅSÏÇ PRØÇËSSËS ØF TÅXØÑØMÝ

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Characterisation: It is the understanding of characters of organisms

such as external and internal structure, structure of cell, development

process, ecological information etc.



Identification: It is the correct description of the organism, so that the

naming is possible.



Classification : It is the grouping of organisms into convenient categories

(taxa) based on characters.



Nomenclature (naming) : It is the standardisation of names of the

organisms such that an organism is known by the same name all over

the world. The system of naming with two components is called binomial

nomenclature. It is proposed by Linnaeus.

Zoological names are

based on International

Code for Zoological

Nomenclature (ICZN).

Botanical names are

based on the rules in

International Code for

Botanical Nomenclature

(ICBN). [AIPMT 2007]

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2

International

Code for Viral

Nomenclature (ICVN)

International Code

for Nomenclature of

Bacteria (ICNB)

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3

ÜÑÏVËRSÅL RÜLËS ØF BÏÑØMÏÅL ÑØMËÑÇLÅTÜRË

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Scientific names are in Latin or Latinised and written in italics. When

handwritten, they are underlined separately.

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The first word is genus name (Generic name) and second word is the

species name (specific epithet), e.g., Homo sapiens. Homo represents

the genus name and sapiens represents the species name.