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Three centuries of paradigm changes in biological classification: Is the end in sight?
Author(s) -
Mishler Brent D.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
taxon
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.819
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1996-8175
pISSN - 0040-0262
DOI - 10.1002/tax.581009
Subject(s) - tree of life (biology) , phylogenetic tree , cladistics , similarity (geometry) , evolutionary biology , process (computing) , phylocode , biology , genealogy , computer science , artificial intelligence , history , biochemistry , gene , image (mathematics) , operating system
Classification has been a centerpiece of biology ever since Linnaeus, providing a framework on which existing knowledge can be organized and predictions about unknown traits can be made. But the basis of biological classification has gone through a series of upheavals over the last three centuries, from being considered a plan in the mind of the creator, to a neutral assessment of overall similarity, to a reflection of evolutionary niches, and finally to a phylogenetic mapping of the tree of life. This paper will consider this historical process, with emphasis on phylogenetic systematics (cladistics), and also consider where we might be heading in the future. It is necessary first, however, to consider the purposes of classification itself, which have not changed much over time.