Taxon

Encyclopedia : T : TA : TAX : Taxon

A taxon (plural taxa), or taxonomic unit, is a grouping of organisms (named or unnamed). Once named, a taxon will usually have a rank and can be placed at a particular level in a hierarchy.

A broad scheme of ranks in hierarchical order:

Kingdom

Phylum (animals or plants) or Division (plants)

A prefix is used to indicate a ranking of lesser importance. The prefix super- indicates a rank above, the prefix sub- indicates a rank below. In zoology the prefix infra- indicates a rank below sub-. For instance:

Superclass

Class

Subclass

Infraclass

Do note that rank is relative, and restricted to the particular scheme used. For example, liverworts have been grouped, in various systems of classification, as a family, order, or a class. The use of ranks is challenged by users of cladistics and has led to the PhyloCode being proposed.

Journal

Taxon is the name of the quarterly journal published by the International Association for Plant Taxonomy.

Taxon

Journal

See also