Taxonomy - Glossary
Please note: Terms defined below are specific to their use within the Taxonomy ApplicationAccepted Name
A name that is recognized by a classification source as a current valid name for a synonym.
Active
See Lifecycle State.
Authority
The name of the author of a scientific name, cited after the name.
Category
A grouping of taxa. Categories may come from the classification source that provided a taxon (i.e. USDA Plants Categories) or they may be added by a separate organization (i.e. NPSpecies Categories). An example of an NPSpecies Category is "Birds".
Classification Source
A classification source is a provider of Taxonomy records. In the current Taxonomy Application, there are three Classification Sources: the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), NPSpecies Semi-permanent Names (Taxonomy records added by the NPSpecies system owner), and NPSpecies Temporary Names (Taxonomy records added by the NPSpecies user community). USDA Plants will be added as a classification source in a future version of the Taxonomy application.
Code
A unique identifier from a classification source for their taxonomy records. The classification sources ITIS, NPSpecies Semi-permanent Names, and NPSpecies Temporary Names all use a code named Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN) as their unique identifier.
Common Name
A vernacular name for a taxon that is in general use within a community as contrasted with scientific name. Examples of common names are "river otter", "white fir", and "Western Tanager".
Crosswalk
A link between a taxon record from one classification source and a taxon record from a different classification source.
Family
A taxonomic rank found between order and genus. An example of a family is Canidae, the dog family, which includes domestic dogs, wolves, foxes, coyotes, and jackals.
Inactive
See Lifecycle State.
ITIS
See Classification source.
Kingdom
A taxonomic rank, typically recognized as the highest rank in biological taxonomy. Typically five or six kingdoms are recognized. An example of a kingdom is Plantae, the plant kingdom.
Lifecycle State
Lifecycle state may be Active or Inactive. Inactive records are those which have been removed from general use. Inactive records are not displayed on most searches by scientific name, but can always be retrieved by Taxon Code. All other records in current use are Active.
Name of Code
The name used by a classification source to describe their code. For example, ITIS calls their code "Taxonomic Serial Number", or "TSN" for short.
Name Type
Three name types are recognized in the Taxonomy Application: scientific names, scientific names with authorities, and common names.
Order
A taxonomic rank found between class and family. An example of an order is Pinopsida, which includes modern conifers.
Originator
A taxon originator is the creator of a taxon record.
Owner
A taxon owner may Activate, Deactivate, or Edit a taxon record.
Parent Taxon
A taxon that occurs immediately above the another taxon in a taxonomic hierarchy.
Rank
An indicator of position within a taxonomic hierarchy. Common ranks in order from highest to lowest include kingdom, division or phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Other ranks exist between these ranks and below species, but are less commonly used.
Scientific Name
A name used to identify a taxon that consists of one or more parts, written in Latin and typically underlined or italicized. Scientific names are supposed to uniquely identify a taxon, though some exceptions occur. Scientific names are also designed to be used globally, regardless of the native language of those using the names.
Scientific Name with Authorities
A scientific name with embedded authorities.
Search Type
Two types of searches are available in the Taxonomy application: Search by Name and Search by Code. Searching by Name allows searching by scientific name, scientific name with authorities, or common name. Searching by Code allows searching by Taxa Code or by any of the original codes used by the classification sources that provided Taxonomy records.
Source
See classification source.
Source Taxon Profile
A link to a profile/report on the taxon from the web site of the classification source, if available.
Status
Information provided by a classification source about the usage or state of a taxon within that classification source.
Synonyms
Different scientific names used for a single taxon. In the Taxonomy application, these are typically names that are not currently recognized as valid (junior synonyms from zoology), and so a synonym will have one or more accepted names.
Taxa/Taxon
A taxonomic group or entity. Each record in the Taxonomy application is considered a taxon. Taxa is the plural of taxon.
Taxa/Taxon Code
A unique identifier for a taxon in the Taxonomy application. It is in the form of a positive integer.
Taxon Display Citation
A shortened notation that describes a taxon in the following format: CategoryName.ScientificName.ClassificationSourceName.RankName-TaxonCode[LifecycleState].
Taxonomic Hierarchy
A listing showing the placement of a taxon and its parentage in descending order by rank, typically all the way to kingdom for biological nomenclature.
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science and practice of classification, arranging taxa in hierarchies by ranks following a parent-child relationship.
TSN
See Code.
This Page Last Updated: 1 September 2011.
