In the field of biology, more and more new species of living organisms are being discovered and studied. There are more than one and a half million described species. In total, representatives of the world of wildlife discovered by scientists are about 14 million. In order for people to order such a huge number of species, systematization (taxonomy) of organisms is necessary.
Who is a taxonomist
A systematist is a person involved in compiling a system of the world of wildlife. For the correct course of the systematization process, the worker uses data from many areas of biology.
A systematist is a scientist who understands different areas of natural science. To determine the location of a species in a system, a scientist delves into paleontology, anatomy, physiology, genetics, and many other branches of biology.
A taxonomist is a scientist who constantly double-checks the correctness of the position of species in various taxonomic groups. He can announce the emergence of a new taxonomic group if the need arises. That is, in the case when the described species cannot be included in existing classes, families, and so on.
The meaning of the word taxonomist is quite simply described in explanatory dictionaries: "specialist in taxonomy." Indeed, a taxonomist must be well versed in the principles of his work, that is, be a very good specialist.
How scientists work
On what principles do scientists rely, making up a huge system of all living organisms? After the appearance of the works of Charles Darwin, the principle of evolution came to the fore.
All organisms in the system of the world of wildlife are located according to a strict rule: in one taxonomic group there are closely related species, genera, families or other taxa.
Examples of distribution of species by taxonomic groups
All representatives of the order of predatory mammals descended from miacids - predators resembling modern martens. Miacids have lived on the planet for a long time. In the Oligocene (about thirty million years ago), a branch separated from them: the ancestors of modern predators. They evolved and formed species of living organisms different in appearance and lifestyle: wolves, foxes, bears, sea lions, walruses, martens, weasels, meerkats, skunks, raccoons and others.
Thus, all modern predatory mammals belong to the order Carnivora, which means "carnivorous". Even if the animal does not eat exclusively meat, but comes from the same ancestor as other carnivores, then it belongs to the order Carnivores. For example, this applies to bears, whose diet is extremely varied.
Allmodern bears are descended from the same miacids, or rather, from one of the branches of these small animals. This branch is characterized by a wide variety of fairly large species. One species was particularly large: Ursus etruscus.
He lived one and a half million years ago. It is from Ursus etruscus that white and brown, as well as various types of cave bears, originated. All of them belong to the common genus Ursus. The spectacled bear does not belong to this genus, but is included in the Bear family. This means that the relationship of this species with other bears is more distant.
Influence of different sciences on taxonomy
In recent decades, genetics has made an increasing contribution to taxonomy. One of the activities of geneticists is deciphering the genes of different organisms. The similarity of the genomes of different species may lay the groundwork for combining them in one taxonomic group.
Paleontology also constantly supplies new data for systematization. Scientists discover intermediate types of a long chain of the evolutionary process. This confirms or refutes the location of a particular species in the system.
Thus, a taxonomist is a scientist who collects data from different areas of biology. Systematics is always interested in the latest work of paleontologists, geneticists and other specialists. New data sometimes changes the location of a species in the wildlife system.
