6 



Animal Classification — Taxonomy 



In the files of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) in Wash- 

 ington there are millions of fingerprints of various types of law violators 

 in the United States. To one unfamiliar with the methods of crime 

 detection it might seem impossible to identify a criminal by comparison 

 of these records with fingerprints found at the scene of a crime. It 

 would appear to be a hopeless task to match a fingerprint with one of 

 the millions on file. Yet, experienced F.B.I, agents can accomplish 

 this and identify the criminal within a matter of minutes. How is this 

 possible? Through a systematic method of classification. 



There are over a million species of animals which have been identi- 

 fied and named up to date. Hundreds of new species are being dis- 

 covered and added to this list each year. Without a systematic means 

 of classification, these would form such a conglomeration that it would 

 be impossible to locate the name and description of any particular 

 animal. It would be similar to searching for a book in a large library 

 in which the books were not classified, but stacked indiscriminately on 

 the shelves. It is thus apparent that there must be an efficient method 

 of classification. Taxonomy is the word used to describe the phase of 

 biology dealing with classification. 



Taxonomy was in a confused state before 1735. Aristotle and others 

 had worked out a crude system of classification, but there was no au- 

 thority to which one could turn to settle disputes on the names of 

 plants and animals. At that time, however, a great Swedish natural- 

 ist, Carolus Linnaeus, realizing the need for a systematic approach to 

 classification, published his great work Systema Naturae. In this book 

 he attempted to name and briefly describe all the existing plants and 

 animals known to him. The book went through twelve editions, each of 

 which contained additional species until, in the final edition, 4,378 species 

 were included. Although this is a far cry from the great number known 

 today, Linnaeus laid the foundation for the modern method of classification. 



The tenth edition of the book is considered the actual beginning of 

 modern classification. It was published in 1758. In this edition each 

 species name was limited to one term. The International Code of Zoologi- 



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