Summary

The living world is remarkably rich in variety. Millions of plants and animals have already been identified and described, yet a large number still remain unknown. This sheer range of organisms — differing in size, colour, habitat, and physiological and morphological features — is what makes the living world such a fascinating and challenging subject of study.

To make the study of so many kinds of organisms possible, biologists have developed rules and principles for their identification, nomenclature and classification. The branch of knowledge dealing with these aspects is taxonomy. Taxonomic studies of the various species of plants and animals are valuable in agriculture, forestry and industry, and more generally for understanding our bio-resources and their diversity. …