Pre-Linnaean Taxonomy- Earliest Taxonomy- the Greeks and Romans- the Herbalists- Early Taxonomists

• Linnaean Era- starting point of modern Taxonomy- transforming Botany & Zoology into a Science

Post-Linnaean Taxonomy- natural system emerging in France- Rules for Nomenclature- from Phenetics to Phylogenies- the Phylocode

Folk Taxonomy

Earliest traces of taxonomy were Eastern- known to the Western world only

during the Middle Ages

- earliest pharmacopoeias was written by Shen Nung, Emperor of China around 3,000 BC

Known as the Father of Chinese medicine

Believed to have introduced acupuncture

Wants to educate his people in agriculture & medicine

- have test many herbs for medicinal value

The pharmacopoeia of Nung “Divine Husbandman’s Materia Medica” included 365 medicines derived from minerals, plants, & animals

1500 BC , medicinal plants were illustrated on wall paintings in Egypt

—gives us knowledge about medicinal plants in old Egypt & their names

The first to classify all living things, specifically on animals (like the vertebrates & invertebrates)

A student of Aristotle & Plato

Wrote a classification of all known plants, De Historia Plantarum, 480 species

- based on growth form

He wrote De Materia Medica

- 600 species; was used in medicine until 16th century

his classifications was based on the medicinal properties of the species

His book Naturalis Historia

- described plants & gave them Latin names

The Father of Botanical Latin

called “the first Taxonomist”

- he wrote De Plantis in 1583, 1500 species

- his classifications was based on growth habit together with fruit & seed form

- wrote Pinax Theatri Botanici in 1623, 6000 species- they included synonymes- recognized genera & species as major taxonomic levels

Established species as the ultimate unit of taxonomy

He published Methodus Plantarum Nova in 1682, 18000 plant species

His classifications was based on many combined characters

Constructed a botanical classification w/c became a rule in his time

Published Institutiones Rel Herbariae, 9000 species

Put emphasis on the classification of genera

His classification was based on floral characters

His 2 important works:- global flora Species

Plantarum, 1753- 10th ed. of Systema

Naturae, 1758 w/c includes global fauna

•Counted 8530 species of flowering plants in 1753

Carolus Linnaeus

Stated his career in 1735 by publishing a system of all living things & minerals called Systema Naturae

- introduced sexual system of plants, an artificial classification based on the sexual parts of the flower, stamens & pistils

• Published several books that would transform botany & zoology into a science

Published Critica botanica in 1735 with rules for the formulation of generic names

In the same year, published Genera Plantarum with the list of all known genera

Fundamenta botanica in 1736 & Philosophia botanica in 1751 he created rules for species descriptions, terminology, & even instructions on how to build a proper herbarium

corolla, stamen, filament & anther, Mammalia

His approach was to describe the world rather than to classify it

His theories touched upon development of species, infraspecific variety, & acquired inherited characters in species

(Four French Scientists)

wrote Familles des Plantes in 1763

Gave the idea that in classification one should not put greater emphasis on some characters than on others, but use a great range of characters

Changed the system of plants w/ his Genera Plantarum in 1789- a natural system based on many characters; became the foundation of modern classification

• divided plants into acotyledons, monocotyledons, & dicotyledons

Launched an evolutionary theory including inheritance of acquired characters, named the “Lamarckism”

French scientific works, the development of anatomy & physiology, and improved optical instruments made way for the new era of Taxonomy

- trying to cope with an increasing number of species in a rapidly expanding flora & fauna of the world

From the lectures of Mariette Manktelow, Dept of Systematic Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University