What is the Taxonomic Hierarchy?

Taxonomy is a very crucial branch of biology that classifies all living organisms. It is highly important from a biological point of view as it helps to categorize and organize living organisms. It was developed by noted Swedish biologist Carolus Linnaeus, who developed this system of classification in the 18th century, and such was its accuracy that it is in use even today. He is also credited as the creator of the binomial nomenclature, which was a revolutionary step in the classification of organisms in biology as it has greatly helped biologists to study different species. 

The groundbreaking system of giving each different organism a separate genus and species name was invented by Linnaeus and thus, if it is asked “What is the Taxonomic Hierarchy?”, the correct answer would be that it is a hierarchical structure of eight separate ranks, from general to specific and each rank is a separate step in the hierarchy. It is done concerning genus and species.

What is the Taxonomic Hierarchy?

In the simplest of words, taxonomic hierarchy is the arrangement of taxons, that is, a certain group of organisms, which have been classified as one solitary unit, in a particular order, in which each taxon is allotted a certain taxonomical rank. The best example to explain this would be to cite the example of us, human beings, homo sapiens, as we all belong to the same species and thus, should be in the same species level and on the other hand, all other apes, such as monkeys, chimpanzees, gorillas are all primates and thus belong to the same taxon level of primates and thus, they can be placed in the same taxon rank as humans. 

Thus, they are found in the same order, Primates. Both the species name and the order are major examples of taxonomic rank, which is nothing but the relative ranks of taxons in a taxonomic hierarchy.

Therefore, the taxonomic hierarchy helps biologists maintain a very organized system of keeping records and studying various living organisms and researching them and their Cairo characteristics.

What are taxonomic hierarchies based on?

Do you know what are taxonomical hierarchies based on? Taxonomic hierarchies are based on several things such as the domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Thus, a certain organism is classified on all of these different levels. For example, human beings can be classified on these different levels, and then, they are allotted a certain taxonomical rank. The scientific classification of human beings is as follows.

• Domain: Eukaryota
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Primates
• Family: Hominidae
• Genus: Homo
• Species: sapiens

Some of the important terms in biology regarding the classification of various organisms

Now, the next part of this article takes a look at some of the most commonly used terms in the classification of living organisms which define the entire process.

• Taxon – This term has been used repeatedly throughout this article and it is highly important if one is trying to understand scientific classification. A taxon is a population of certain living organisms that have been put in the same group as each other by taxonomists.
• Taxonomic hierarchy –It is a certain arranged group or order of taxonomic ranks which is used by biologists to classify various living organisms from general to specific. It is the main subject of discussion in this article.
• Taxonomic rank – It is the individual rank allotted to each living organism in a taxonomical hierarchy and it can also be referred to as the level of a taxon in a taxonomical hierarchy.
• Binomial nomenclature –A system invented by Carolus Linnaeus to name various living species, this system consists of two parts. This name consists of two parts, the first part being the genus name and the second part, that is, the part that follows is the species name.

Domain 

It is the highest rank of organisms and also the most general. It is a much newer rank and it was not developed by the original inventor of the system, that is, Carolus Linnaeus, and it was used for the first time in 1990. The original system was developed in 1735. The three domains of life are bacteria, Eukaryota, and archaea.

Kingdom

 It is the rank that is the highest after Domain. Before Domain was invented, Kingdom was the highest rank in the taxonomical hierarchy. There are 7 different kingdoms, which are Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protozoa, Chromista, Bacteria, and Archaea.

Phylum 

It is the next rank after kingdom and there are 35 phyla in the Animalia class. It is more specific than Kingdom but it is also less specific than class.

Class

It is more specific than phylum but less specific than order. There are 108 different Classes in the Kingdom Animalia.

Order

It is more specific than Class but less specific than Family. Many of Carolus Linnaeus’s Orders are used even today and there are 19-26 orders of Mammalia.

Family

It is even more specific and it is less specific than Genus. There are around 12 total families in the Order Carnivora.

Genus

It is even more specific than Family and it is the first part of an organism’s scientific name using the binomial nomenclature, with the second part being the species name.

Species

It is the last rank and is the most specific. According to studies, there are around 8.7 million different species of living organisms on Earth. A lot of living organisms are yet to be discovered and categorized.

Conclusion

Thus, these classifications are highly important in the study of different species from a biological point of view and help biologists and taxonomists study the various living organisms.