NomInatION AND
ClassificaTION OF THE
LIVING FORMS
We all know the animals and the vegetables by some name, which changes through
the locality, region and/or country where the species is found. If everybody know the
same species (animal or vegetable) with different names, and begin a conversation
about it, soon they'd think that they're talking about different species, not the same
one. In fact, this confusion created by the different names has been always a
problem in Biology, in any of its divisions of study and/or research.
In attempt to universalize the animals and plants' names, from long ago the scientists
have been trying to create an international nomination to designate the living forms.
In the first Zoology book published by an american, Mark Catesby, in about 1740,
there was an attempt to "standardize" a bird's name, in a way that he might be known
in any language, but the bird's name was too big to describe such a small bird. Yet, in
1735, the swedish Karl von Linné, botanist and physician, known as Linneu,
publicated his book "Systema Naturae", where he proposed rules to classify and
nominate animals and plants. But only on the 10th edition of his book, then in 1758,
he effectively proposed a simplified form of nomination, where each organism would
be known by two names only, followed and undivisible. So the modern binominal
nomination emerged.
The present rules for scientific nomination of the living forms, including the extinct
animals, were based on Linneu's publication, at the I International Scientific
Nomination Congress, in 1898, and they were reviewed in 1927, in Budapest,
Hungary.
The main rules are:
¤ In scientific designation, the names must be latin of origin, or then, latinized.
¤ In published works, every scientific name must be written in italic (sort of thin and
inclined letter), different of the tipographic body used in the text. In handwrote works,
these names must be stand out.
¤ Each organism must be known by a binominal designation, where the first term
identifies its genus and the second, its species. But it's considered misdeed the use
of the species name only, without being preceeded by the genus name.
¤ The name related to the genus must be a simple or compound noun, written with
initial in capital letter.
¤ The name related to the species must be an adjective, written with the initial in
small letter ( * save in very rare exceptions: In the cases of scientific nomination in
reverence to a famous person of the country where you live in, it is consented the
use of the initial in capital letter).
¤ Following the name of the organism is optional to write, in full or abbreviated, the
name of the author who first described and nominated it, without any intermediate
punctuation, following a coma and the date (year) in which it has been publicated by
the first time ( * Do not confuse the author's name (mentioned after the species
name) with subspecies, once that the subspecies is written with initial in small letter
and in italic, while the author's name has always initial in capital letter and is written
normally.).
¤ Since the nomination is uninominal (one name) for genus and binominal (two
names) for species, it is trinominal (three names) for subspecies.
¤ In Zoology, the family's name is given by the addiction of the -idae suffix to the
radical correspondent to the name of the genus-type. For subfamilies, the used suffix
is -inae.
¤ Some Botany nomination rules are independent from the zoological nomination
rules. The family names, for example, never use the -idae suffix for plants, but
normally use the -aceae termination.
¤ Priority Law: If there are two different names given for the same organism, by
different athors, prevails the first nomination. The use for this rule is to avoid the
same species to be nominated by different scientific names, which would lead to a
confusion identical to the one that exists with the common names.
Observation: In exceptional cases, is permitted the substitution of a scientific name,
but for this is adopted a special note, already stated, that indicates to be a
reclassificated species. Then, when a specialist changes the systematic position of a
species that had already been scientificly nominated, and places it in another genus,
the correct taxionomic (systematic) nomination must assume one of the forms below:
A) The old name is placed between parentheses, after the genus and before the
specific (species') name.
B) Or, then, the name of the organism is mentioned in its new genus and, after,
betwen parentheses, the name of the first author and the date in which he nominated
that organism, only then, out of the parentheses, the name of the second author and
the date in which he reclassificated the specimen is placed.
The division of the living forms is made in a way to group similar beings in groups
distinct of others. The descriptive study of all the species of living forms and its
classification in a true hierarchy of groups consists the systematics or taxionomy.
Until some time ago, were distinguished the zoological systematics, refered to the
animals, and the botanical systematics, refered to the plants. In present days, the
division of the living forms assumed a bigger complexity degree, now with five
kingdoms.
To understand the functionality of the taxionomic divisions of the living forms, it's
necessary the knowledge of basic notions, which are inserted in sets, and every set
is, then, inserted in bigger and more enclosing sets. These notions are, in crescent
order:
» Species: is a group of individuals with deep morphological and physiological
similarities between them, showing great biochemical similarities, and in the cariotype
(cromossomial table of haploid cells), with capacity of crossing naturally between
them, originating fertile descendants.
» Genus: is the set of species that present similarities, although they're not identical.
» Family: is the set of connected genus, what means, very like or similra, although
they have differences more significant than the division in genuses.
» Order: is a group of families that show similarities.
» Class: is the reunion of orders that have factors distinct of others, but common to
the orders that belong to it.
» Philo (Branch): is the reunion of classes with common characteristics between
them, even that the classes are very distinct between them.
» Kingdom: is the biggest of the taxionomic cathegories, which reunite philos with
common characteristics among them, even if their differences are enormous. It has
only five divisions: Animalia (Metazoa), Vegetalia (Plantae), Fungi, Protistis and
Monera.
From these sets, the order is:
Species < Genuses < Families < Orders < Classes < Philos (Branches) <
Kingdoms
Where it's read that the species are inserted in the genuses, which are inserted in the
families, which are inserted in the orders, which are inserted in the classes, which are
inserted in the philos (branches), which are then inserted in the kingdoms.
An observation must be done: the VIRUSES are forms classificated differently, being
considered as forms without kingdom. It happens because of their unique
characteristics, as the absence of cellular organization, absence of own metabolism
to obtain energy, it reproduces only in a host organism, among others. But they have
the hability to mutate, in way to improve their adaptation to the environment where
they are.
With these notions, I hope that a better understanding of the complexity of the 'world'
of biological sciences, specially Paleontology, is possible.
Source: "BIOLOGIA - Volume 3 : Seres Vivos-Evolução-Ecologia", SOARES, José Luis, 2ª Ed., Editora Scipione, SP, 1993, pgs. 8-22.