Taxonomy: Modern taxonomy stems from the 1758 edition of ‘Systema Naturae’, a volume by Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist. The binomial system of nomenclature that he introduced was simple yet precise. Two characteristics are needed for a workable system. The first is genus and the second is species. For example tamarindus indica is the scientific name for the tamarind tree and homo sapiens is man’s.
The natural system of classification that has developed, culminating in the Linnaean binomial system, is based on the degree of similarity in morphological traits. When arranged under this scheme, living things fall in to a hierarchy with the similarities becoming more specific at each level from phylum to genus. The theory of evolution furnished a cogent explanation for this pattern of variation. The similarities so readily observed are the result of descent from a common ancestry and is the reflection of the actual genetic relationship between the species. Although such a phylogeny is based on the assumption of evolution, the very fact that the phylogeny forms a branching system is in itself an argument favouring evolution.
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