Ataxobox (short fortaxonomyinfobox) is a table found on Wikipedia articles setting out the currently largely-acceptedscientific classification of an organism or group of organisms. Note that there is sometimes taxonomic debate on the status and name of a taxon. As of June 2011, the English Wikipedia contained more than 180,000 taxoboxes. This article explains how to read a taxobox.
Refer to the figure on the right, which shows the taxobox from the articleColorado potato beetle.
Common Name The title of the box is a common English name for the organism, if any, or else the scientific name. A reference mark here indicates the source of the contents of the taxobox, unless otherwise noted.
Conservation Status This is a line (or section) specifying theconservation status of the species — an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive. The Colorado potato beetle is "Least concern", which in accordance with the 1994 classifications is a subcategory of "Lower Risk": there is no known immediate threat to the survival of the species. For species under threat, Wikipedia follows the status given on theIUCN Red List of Threatened Species whenever possible. Other systems might also be used, such as the one developed byThe Nature Conservancy group.
Picture A picture of a typical individual.
Scientific Classification The central section of the taxobox sets out the currently acceptedscientific classification of the organism or group of organisms described by the article. This is the hierarchy of groups, called "taxa" (singular: taxon), to which the organism belongs. In cases where the taxonomy is uncertain, in dispute, or currently undergoing a revision, this section attempts to represent current, but conservative, scientific consensus, and does not usually attempt to follow the very latest research.
"Ranks" of the Taxa On the left of the classification are the "ranks" of the taxa that are named on the right. Aspecies is a population of related individuals that share a more or less distinctive form and are capable of interbreeding. It is included in agenus (a group of related species), which is included in a family (a group of related genera) and so on. Normally the seven "major ranks" appear as shown here, but in cases where more detail is appropriate, "minor ranks" may appear as well. For example, a subfamily may appear between family and genus.
Binomial Name Thebinomial name, binomial nomenclature or "binomen" is the currently accepted scientific name for aspecies. It consists of the name of the genus followed by a "specific epithet". Binomial names must be chosen so that no two organisms have the same name; this means that scientists can useLeptinotarsa decemlineata to refer to the Colorado potato beetle without ambiguity.[a] Binomial names are written inLatin, or other languages transliterated into Latin. (This has its origin in the science of the18th century when the binomial system was popularized, when scientific publication was most often in Latin.) In the case of the Colorado potato beetleLeptinotarsa is LatinizedGreek meaning "delicate feet";decemlineata is Latin, meaning "ten-striped". It is common practice and very much advised to write scientific genus and species names in italics. The first character of the genus name is capitalized; the specific epithet is always in lower case, even if it commemorates a place or a person. A dagger symbol ("†") may precede the binomial name to indicate that the species is extinct.
Naming Authority Below the binomial name is the authority for that name — the first person to publish the name together with a description of the organism (or a reference to such a description). In this case the nameLeptinotarsa decemlineata was first used by US naturalistThomas Say (1787–1843) in the first volume of hisAmerican Entomology, or Descriptions of the Insects of North America, published in 1824. The lack of parentheses around the name is a convention meaning that the species remains in the genus to which it was first assigned (parentheses indicate that the species has been transferred to a different genus).
Species Abbreviated Form The species appears again in abbreviated form. Above the species are the "higher taxa" to which it belongs:
Genus The genusLeptinotarsa contains more than 30 species of beetle, the most well-known being the Colorado potato beetle and theFalse potato beetleLeptinotarsa juncta.
Family Chrysomelidae is the family ofleaf beetles. This family contains more than 35,000 described species of plant-eating beetles.
Order Coleoptera is the order ofbeetles, containing more than 350,000 described species. Beetles have a pair of hard wing-cases (elytra) which cover their true wings.
Class Insecta is the class ofinsects, containing more than 1,000,000 described species. Insects have three segments (a head, athorax, and anabdomen) and six legs.
Kingdom Animalia is the kingdom ofanimals, which are multicellular, generally capable of locomotion and responsive to their environment. The background color of the box also indicates the kingdom the organism belongs to, with an extra color used for viruses. The pink background of the screenshot was historically used to represent Animalia; colors currently in use may be found atTemplate:Taxobox colour.
The scientific classification of an organism is a scientific hypothesis. It may be confirmed or refuted by new evidence. A future new study might demonstrate that the Colorado potato beetle is not a single species, but a group of very closely related but separate species; perhaps acryptic species complex. A taxonomist may look in detail at the species in the familyChrysomelidae and propose a new classification splitting that family into several smaller ones or merging it with several others.
^Note that this rule only applies to organisms of which the names are governed by the samecode: the sets of rules maintained by taxonomists to ensure uniqueness of names. Although taxonomists are strongly advised not to copy names that are used in other 'realms', it is not forbidden to do so. Many genus names exist that are duplicated in the animal and plant kingdom.Prunella modularis (a bird) has the same genus name asPrunella vulgaris (a plant);Liparis (for a genus of fish and a genus of orchids) is another example. At present there are at least three codes that govern scientific names: theInternational Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) for plants and fungi, theInternational Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) for animals, and theInternational Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB) forprokaryota, each of which has no rights outside its own realm (seeNomenclature codes).
