Taxonomy

Term (from Greek taxis = order, nomos = law) for the division into a hierarchical system. In biology, living organisms such as animals, plants and viruses are hierarchically classified and divided into groups (taxa) according to their natural relationship. This division into a hierarchical system is traditionally associated with the classification into a certain rank, such as species (spezies), genus (genus) or family (familia). The first attempts were already made in antiquity, for example by the Greek naturalist Theophrastus (370-287 BC).

The Swedish botanist Carl von Linné (1707-1778) developed the foundations of modern taxonomy and introduced the term "species" into biological systematics. In 1735 he published the work "Fundamenta Botanica", in which he for the first time set out in detail his ideas for reshaping the foundations of botany. His official botanical author code is "L.". Linne's classification system, however, did not yet include all the categories or stages commonly used today. However, these are not always used for all plants or animals. The respective use simply depends on how complex the respective units are. The three main categories almost always mentioned in technical sources are family-genus-species. Each category can be subdivided into subspecies. Likewise, a "superlevel" can be created as the last sublevel of a main category, which then stands above the next main category (superdiviso).