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Taxon

A taxon or taxonomic unit is a grouping of organisms into a larger hierarchical group than the individual – family, order, kingdom, etc. in such a way that each organism is grouped together with its closest evolutionary relatives. When the taxon is named properly with a Latin name, it is also given a place in the relational-hierarchy of a taxonomic system. A taxon will be a member of one of the following levels of classifications: Kingdom, Phylum or Division, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, Subspecies.

Rank is relative to generality and specificity and depends on the taxonomic scheme being used. Different taxonomy systems have been widely divergent and can start organisms in varying ranks. Cladistics has challenged classical taxonomy for this reason, claiming that the clade system is superior because, among other things, it avoids ranking.

The relevant level of relationship between taxa can be measured by DNA analysis and sometimes mating studies; the relationship between two taxa is a description of how long it has been since the two different organisms diverged into species. This relationship is also called evolutionary distance.

Web Resources On Taxon

Taxonomy
Plant Taxonomy

Book Resources On Taxon

Vascular Plant Taxonomy by Walters & Keil
Principles of Animal Taxonomy by George Gaylord Simpson

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