Read the text and answer the questions.

The present-day science of taxonomy or systematics has been recognized as a specialized branch of biology for over 200 years. During the century, a Swedish doctor and botanist Carl von Linneus traveled over most of Western Europe and England, collecting and studying the plants and animals of the region. He had a passion for classification and a genius for minute and accurate observation and for detaching the important from the trivial. His standards for describing and naming plants and animals and the criteria by which he estimated relationships and affinities were innovations for his time. His method of classification and the system he used for the comparatively limited number of organisms that were known to him is the foundations upon which the modern systematic groupings of biological systems have been built.

Linnean system of classification was founded on the concept of a basic natural grouping of like individuals, called a species. He conceived of the species as a fixed and unchangeable grouping of similar individuals. He based his comparisons principally on morphological features, and species was characterized, named, and filed away as an immutable entity. Such a system is essentially static and does not recognize the possibility of change. With the development of theories of evolution, the concept of species has changed. In the constant change and evolution, a species cannot be regarded as absolutely fixed.

1. What is the science of taxonomy?

2. What passion had Carl von Linneus?

3. What innovations did he bring into science? Were they important?

4. What was the Lennean system of classification founded on?

5. Was the concept of species changed nowadays? Does it influence the Linnean system of classification?

3.16 Speak on the topics:

1 Carolus Linneus’ biography.

2 Carolus Linneus’ investigations in Biology.

3 Carolus Linneus – the founder of taxonomy.

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