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Linnaean Ranks: Vestiges of a Bygone Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Marc Ereshefsky
Marc Ereshefsky*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
*
Send requests for reprints to the author, Department of Philosophy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, Canada; ereshefs@ucalgary.ca.
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Abstract

We tend to think that there are different types of biological taxa: some taxa are species, others are genera, while others are families. Linnaeus gave us his ranks in 1731. Biological theory has changed since Linnaeus's time. Nevertheless, the vast majority of biologists still assign Linnaean ranks to taxa, even though that practice is at odds with evolutionary theory and even though it causes a number of practical problems. The Linnaean ranks should be abandoned and alternative methods for displaying the hierarchical relations of taxa should be adopted.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 69 , Issue S3 , September 2002 , pp. S305 - S315
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

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