Taxonomy
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/* See also */ adding 1 internal link: * [[Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy]]
{{for|the science of classifying living things|alpha taxonomy}}
{{wiktionarypar|taxonomy}}
'''Taxonomy''' is the practice and science of [[Scientific classification|classification]]. The word comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''{{Polytonic|τάξις}}'', ''taxis'', 'order' + ''{{Polytonic|νόμος}}'', ''nomos'', 'law' or 'science'. Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of '''''taxonomic units''''' known as '''''taxa''''' (singular '''''[[taxon]]'''''), or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a [[hierarchical]] structure, typically related by subtype-supertype relationships, also called parent-child relationships. In such a subtype-supertype relationship the subtype kind of thing has by definition the same constraints as the supertype kind of thing plus one or more additional constraints. For example, car is a subtype of vehicle. So any car is also a vehicle, but not every vehicle is a car. Therefore, a thing needs to satisfy more constraints to be a car than to be a vehicle.
==Applications==
{{Unreferenced-section|date=July 2007}}
Originally the term taxonomy referred to the classifying of living organisms like cats (now known as [[alpha taxonomy]]); however, the term is now applied in a wider, more general sense and now may refer to a ''classification'' of things, as well as to the ''principles'' underlying such a classification.
Almost anything — animate objects, inanimate objects, places, concepts, events, properties, and relationships — may be classified according to some taxonomic scheme.
The term taxonomy may also apply to relationship schemes other than parent-child hierarchies, such as [[Network (mathematics)|network structure]]s with other types of relationships. Taxonomies may include single children with multi-parents, for example, "Car" might appear with both parents "Vehicle" and "Steel Mechanisms"; to some however, this merely means that 'car' is a part of several different taxonomies.
A taxonomy might also be a simple organization of kinds of things into groups, or even an alphabetical list. However, the term vocabulary is more appropriate for such a list. In current usage within "[[Knowledge Management]]", taxonomies are seen as less broad than [[ontology (computer science)|ontologies]] as ontologies apply a larger variety of relation types.
Mathematically, a hierarchical taxonomy is a [[tree structure]] of classifications for a given set of objects. It is also named [[Containment hierarchy]]. At the top of this structure is a single classification, the root node, that applies to all objects. Nodes below this root are more specific classifications that apply to subsets of the total set of classified objects. So for instance, in common schemes of [[scientific classification]] of organisms, the root is called "[[Organism]]" followed by nodes for the [[taxonomic rank]]s: [[Domain (biology)|Domain]], [[Kingdom (biology)|kingdom]], [[Phylum (biology)|phylum]], [[Class (biology)|class]], etc.
==Taxonomy and mental classification==
Some have argued that the human mind naturally organizes its knowledge of the world into such systems. This view is often based on the [[epistemology]] of [[Immanuel Kant]].
[[cultural anthropology|Anthropologists]] have observed that taxonomies are generally embedded in local cultural and social systems, and serve various social functions. Perhaps the most well-known and influential study of folk taxonomies is [[Émile Durkheim]]'s ''The Elementary Forms of Religious Life''.
==Various taxonomies==
In '''[[phylogenetic taxonomy]]''' (or ''cladistic taxonomy''), organisms are classified into ''[[clade]]s'', which are discovered by grouping taxa using derived traits. By using clades as the criteria for separation, cladistic taxonomy, using [[cladogram]]s, can categorize taxa into unranked groups<!-- (groupings where "rank" terms like Class, Order, Family, etc., are not necessarily specified as they are in [[Linnaean taxonomy]]) [The only specified rank of those given is Family; the others are not presently defined by the Codes or such and are applied at the describer's discretion. "Species" is a bad example and has been replaced by "taxa", because there is little - if any at all - difference between a phylogenetic and a Linnean taxonomic approach at that level these days] -->.
In '''[[numerical taxonomy]]''' or '''[[taximetrics]]''', the field of solving or best-fitting of numerical equations that characterize all measurable quantities of a set of objects is called ''[[cluster analysis]]''.
==Non-scientific taxonomy==
Other taxonomies, such as those analyzed by Durkheim and Lévi-Strauss, are sometimes called '''[[Folk taxonomy|folk taxonomies]]''' to distinguish them from '''scientific taxonomies''' that claim to be disembedded from social relations and thus objective and universal.
The [[neologism]] [[folksonomy]] should not be confused with "folk taxonomy" (though it is obviously a contraction of the two words). Those who support ''scientific taxonomies'' have recently criticized folksonomies by dubbing them "''fauxonomies''" (French word ''"faux"'' means "false").
The phrase "[[enterprise taxonomy]]" is used in business to describe a very limited form of taxonomy used only within one organization. An example would be a certain method of classifying trees as "Type A", "Type B" and "Type C" used only by a certain lumber company for categorising log shipments.
==See also==
* [[Bloom's Taxonomy]]
* [[Carolus Linnaeus]], the father of systematics
* [[Categorization]]
* [[Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Recognition]], a fictional Chinese encyclopedia with an "impossible" taxonomic scheme.
* [[Chresonym]]
* [[Cladistics]], the most prominent of several forms of [[phylogenetic]] [[systematics]]
* [[Folksonomy]]
* [[Gellish English dictionary]] / Taxonomy, in which the concepts are arranged as a subtype-supertype hierarchy.
* [[History of plant systematics]]
* [[Hypernym]]
* [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]]
* [[Knowledge representation]]
* [[Linnaean taxonomy]]
* [[Nosology]]
* [[Ontology]]
* [[Phylogenetic]]
* [[Scientific classification]]
* [[Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy]]
* [[SOLO Taxonomy]]
* [[Species problem]]
* [[Systematics]]
* [[Taxocene]]
== External links ==
*[http://www.db.dk/jni/lifeboat/info.asp?subjectid=15 Hjørland: Scientific classification and taxonomy. IN: The epistemological Lifeboat]
* [http://brainpath.wordpress.com/2007/02/07/7/ Utter freedom via tagging and social constructs]
* [http://species.wikimedia.org/ Wikispecies Main Page]
* [http://www.itis.gov/ Integrated Taxonomic Information System]
* [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi/ Taxonomy Browser of National Center for Biotechnology Information]
* [http://www.taxonomystrategies.com/html/bibliography.htm Library of Taxonomy Resources]
* [http://www.ontopia.net/topicmaps/materials/tm-vs-thesauri.html Metadata? Thesauri? Taxonomies? Topic Maps! - Making sense of it all]
[[Category:Taxonomy| Taxonomy]]
[[Category:Classification systems|Classification systems]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
[[ar:علم التصنيف]]
[[bs:Taksonomija]]
[[br:Taksinomiezh]]
[[bg:Таксономия]]
[[ca:Taxonomia]]
[[cs:Taxonomie]]
[[da:Taksonomi]]
[[de:Taxonomie]]
[[et:Taksonoomia]]
[[el:Συστηματική ταξινόμηση]]
[[es:Taxonomía]]
[[eo:Taksonomio]]
[[fr:Taxinomie]]
[[fy:Taksonomy]]
[[gl:Taxonomía]]
[[ko:분류학]]
[[hr:Taksonomija]]
[[id:Taksonomi]]
[[it:Tassonomia]]
[[he:טקסונומיה]]
[[la:Taxinomia]]
[[lt:Taksonomija]]
[[lij:Taxonomïa]]
[[li:Taxonomie]]
[[hu:Rendszertan]]
[[ms:Taksonomi]]
[[nl:Taxonomie]]
[[ja:分類学]]
[[no:Taksonomi]]
[[oc:Taxinomia]]
[[pl:Taksonomia]]
[[pt:Taxonomia]]
[[ro:Taxonomie]]
[[ru:Таксономия]]
[[scn:Tassinumìa]]
[[simple:Taxonomy]]
[[sk:Taxonómia (biológia)]]
[[sl:Taksonomija]]
[[sr:Таксономија]]
[[sh:Taksonomija]]
[[fi:Taksonomia]]
[[sv:Taxonomi]]
[[th:อนุกรมวิธาน]]
[[vi:Phân loại học]]
[[tr:Taksonomi]]
[[uk:Таксономія]]
[[yi:טאקסאנאמיע]]
[[zh:分类学]]