Question

Define taxonomic hierarchy? List the categories used in classification of organisms.

Answer 1

The taxonomic hierarchy was found by Linnaeus that’s why it is also known as a Linnaean hierarchy. It is used to classify organisms into various categories. It consists of a sequence of categories in a decreasing or increasing order that is from kingdom to species or vice versa. The domain is at the highest rank in the taxonomy hierarchy. It is followed by kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

Complete answer:
Taxonomy is one of the branches of biology that deals with classification of all living things. It was introduced by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. His system of classification is still famous in today’s time. Linnaeus created binomial nomenclature, the system of providing each type of organism a genus as well as species name. He also invented a classification system famously known as taxonomic hierarchy.
Taxonomic Hierarchy at present consist of eight ranks from general to specific

Domain,
Kingdom,
Phylum,
Class,
Order,
Family,
Genus, and
Species.
A taxon is a group of organisms that are categorized as a single unit. This can either be specific or general.
For instance, we could say that all human beings are a taxon at the species level since they all belong to the same species, but we could also say that human beings along with all other primates are a taxon at the order level, since they all belong to the same order Primates. Species as well as orders are both examples of taxonomic ranks that are relative levels of grouping organisms in a taxonomic hierarchy.

Note: The term “Taxonomy” is derived from a Greek word that is “taxis”, meaning arrangement or division, as well as “Nomo’s”, which means method. Each of the level of the taxonomy hierarchy is known as the taxonomic category or rank.