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Taxonomy is essentially the science of identification and classifica- 

 tion of the organisms of the earth according to their natural relation- 

 ships. If I may interject a moment of levity, it has been described as 

 an extension of Noah's work. Taxonomy or systematics is the ordering 

 or the natural classification of minerals and the species of plants and 

 animals under man's dominion. It is the basis for studying natural 

 selection and the mechanisms for explaining the distribution of plants 

 and animals, both geographically, seasonally, and in the case of the 

 oceans the vertical distribution as well. It gives us the background that 

 we need for studying evolutionary biology, how organisms have under- 

 gone a series of changes up to the present, and provides clues of both 

 geological and economic significance. For example, the taxonomy of 

 f oraminifera, very small, shelled protozoans that are found in bottom 

 deposits in the oceans, often provides geophysical exploration orga- 

 nizations with geological clues as to the location of oil deposits in 

 certain areas. Taxonomy is of direct economic importance but at the 

 same time of basic importance to some of our more "modern" sciences. 



We have not yet discovered how to examine, how to study and iden- 

 tify and classify animals and plants by machines alone. It takes a 

 scientist with many years of training and experience to examine or- 

 ganisms and by means of an elaborate classification system developed 

 over a period of hundreds of years derive new knowledge about the 

 biology of the organism, its distribution and how it evolved. This is the 

 basis for ecology which attempts to study the interrelationships of 

 organisms and the environment and of course it is one of the mainstays 

 of modern oceanography, the distribution and ecology of marine or- 

 ganisms in the oceans. By virtue of the fact that it takes trained men, 

 and an almost exclusively human endeavor to produce these classifica- 

 tions and identifications, we must have many more taxonomists to 

 handle the rapidly increasing number of specimens and the associated 

 environmental data that is being collected from oceanographic ships 

 and through other means. 



Without an improved opportunity of feeding back the information 

 that is derived from taxonomic studies of marine organisms we will 

 continue to maintain an attenuated feedback system where there is a. 

 lot going in and a relatively small amount of data coming out. Until 

 such time as we improve our support of taxonomy there will remain 

 the problem of the backlog. We may end up as we have with the col- 

 lections from the Challenger Expedition of 1872 some of which are 

 still sitting on shelves waiting to be identified. Today we can't afford to 

 wait that long if we want to obtain the oceanographic information that 

 we need to advance our national program. 



Mr. RuppE. The science of taxonomy, then, identifies and classifies 

 but it does at the same time give an indication of the location and 

 movement and depth ? 



Dr. Galler. Yes, sir ; and the biology of the organism, information 

 about its life cycle. 



Mr. RuppE. Is that achieved through actual field study, or is it 

 achieved as I say, through cumulation of data, more or less a fallback? 



Dr. Galler. It is achieved both ways, Mr. Congressman. The scien- 

 tists engaged in toxonomic research frequently do go into the field and 



