The relevance of taxonomy in our genomic era is greater than ever. Correct naming is crucial for developing new foods and medicines, and for understanding our changing environment. Amazingly, we do ...

Steve Nix is a member of the Society of American Foresters and a former forest resources analyst for the state of Alabama. Tree species and their names are a product of a two-part plant naming system ...

Taxonomy is the science that attempts to categorise the many millions of species on Earth. Find out how to define taxonomy, what taxonomists do and why classifying life is so important. The definition ...

These drawings show the characteristic, species-specific pigment patterns of both 'leech varieties' in remarkable detail. Cuvier's original figures are of the same quality as recently published ...

Classification attempts to impose a hierarchy on the complex and dynamic variety of life on Earth by describing how different species group together and how they are related to one another or not.