taxonomist
Organism classification expert
A taxonomist is a scientist who classifies organisms into categories based on shared characteristics.
The work involves identifying species, determining relationships between organisms, and organizing them into hierarchical groups—kingdom, phylum, class, and so on.
The taxonomist discovered three new beetle species in the rainforest.
By extension, anyone who creates systematic classifications: a taxonomist of literary genres.
Science of classifying organisms
- cladisticsClassification by common descent
- phylogeneticsScience of ancestral relationships
- binomialExpression with two terms
- genusTaxonomic rank above species
species · family · order · class · phylum · kingdom · domain · categorization
One who studies organisms
- researcherOne who studies systematically
- curatorCollection overseer
- museumPublic exhibit space
- herbariumPreserved plant specimen archive
academic · professor · fieldwork · publication · monograph · specimen · collection · expedition
Formal species designation
- epithetDescriptive tag for someone
- synonymySameness of meaning
- designationFormal name or title
- authorityPower to enforce obedience
typification · vernacular · Latin name · revision · description · diagnosis
Plants of a region
- faunaAnimal life collectively
- herpetologyStudy of reptiles, amphibians
- ornithologyScientific study of birds
- entomologyStudy of insects
ichthyology · mammalogy · botany · zoology · mycology · paleontology · microbiology · invertebrates
Evolutionary relationships among organisms
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- cladeMonophyletic taxonomic group
- monophyleticFrom one ancestral lineage
sister group · evolutionary tree · divergence · lineage · tree of life
systematics
Science of classifying organisms
- cladisticsClassification by common descent
- phylogeneticsScience of ancestral relationships
- binomialExpression with two terms
genus · species · family · order · class · phylum · kingdom · domain · categorization · identification
biologist
One who studies organisms
- researcherOne who studies systematically
- curatorCollection overseer
- museumPublic exhibit space
herbarium · academic · professor · fieldwork · publication · monograph · specimen · collection · expedition · discovery
scientific name
Formal species designation
- epithetDescriptive tag for someone
- synonymySameness of meaning
- designationFormal name or title
authority · typification · vernacular · Latin name · revision · description · diagnosis
flora
Plants of a region
- faunaAnimal life collectively
- herpetologyStudy of reptiles, amphibians
- ornithologyScientific study of birds
entomology · ichthyology · mammalogy · botany · zoology · mycology · paleontology · microbiology · invertebrates · vertebrates
phylogeny
Evolutionary relationships among organisms
- speciationFormation of distinct species
- common ancestorOrigin point of descendants
- cladeMonophyletic taxonomic group
monophyletic · sister group · evolutionary tree · divergence · lineage · tree of life
- biologistsbiologist, geneticist, molecular biologist, microbiologist, biochemist
- naturalistsCharles Darwin, naturalist, field researcher, botanist, Carl Linnaeus
- Species Discoveryexpedition, field research, specimen, DNA analysis, endemic species
- scientistsbiologist, Einstein, anthropologist, Darwin, chemist
- zoo jobszookeeper, keeper, animal keeper, head keeper, zoo director
- animal scientistszoologist, ethologist, marine biologist, ornithologist, wildlife biologist
taxonomistfield researcher
One studying phenomena firsthand
ecologist · ethologist · wildlife biologist · explorer · naturalist
taxonomistlumper
Dock freight handler
generalist · synthesizer · unifier · splitter