Question

Discuss Linneaus contribution to systematics.

Accepted Answer

Systematics is a word that is derived from the Latin word ‘systema’. Systematics is a branch of biology that deals with the diversity of organisms and all their comparative and evolutionary relationships based on a study of comparative anatomy, development, comparative biochemistry, comparative physiology, and comparative ecology by the grouping of organisms at every level of classification right from species to the kingdom.

Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), a Swedish naturalist proposed a system to name and organize species known as binomial nomenclature and for this contribution he is considered the father of Taxonomy and also the father of Modern Botany. He proposed three groups: “Kingdoms” which are divided into “Classes”; these classes were divided into “Orders” which were further divided into “Genera” and then into “Species” (epithet in case of plants). He developed the system of scientific naming of organisms in 1751.

Carolus Linnaeus proposed the artificial system of classification, it is also called the sexual system of classification. In this classification, Linnaeus highlighted the basic characteristics of the plant’s sexual parts (carpels and stamens). He also took into consideration the structures of flowers and fruits for classification. He classified the plant kingdom into 24 classes based on the number, length, size, and union of the stamen. He further classified the classes in order, based on the number of styles in each flower.

His classification system is quick and helps in the easy identification of plants based on one or a few characteristics, however, the relationships were not considered while classification. The artificial system could not describe the similarities and dissimilarities of organisms.

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