Tools for study of taxonomy
Tools and taxonomical aids may be different for the study of plants and animals. Herbarium and Botanical garden may be used as tools for the study of plant taxonomy. In the case of animal studies, the classical tools are Museum, Taxonomical Keys and Zoological and Marine parks.
The important components of the taxonomical tools are field visits, survey, identification, classification, preservation and documentation. Many tools are being used for taxonomical studies, amongst them some of the important tools are discussed below:
Arignar Anna Zoological Park, also known as the Vandalur Zoo is in the south western part of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, spreads over an area of 1500 acres, is one of the largest zoological parks in India. The zoo houses 2,553 species of both flora and fauna.
The classical taxonomical tools
Taxonomical Keys: Keys are based on comparative analysis of the similarities and dissimilarities of organisms. There are separate keys for different taxonomic categories.
Museum: Biological museums have collection of preserved plants and animals for study and ready reference. Specimens of both extinct and living organisms can be studied.
Zoological parks: These are places where wild animals are kept in protected environments under human care. It enables us to study their food habits and behaviour.
Marine parks: Marine organisms are maintained in protected enviroments.
Printed taxonomical tools consist of identification cards, description, field guides and manuals.
Molecular taxonomical tools
Technological advancement has helped to evolve molecular taxonomical tools from classical tools to molecular tools. The accuracy and authenticity is more significant in the molecular tools. The following methods are being used for taxonomical classification.
Molecular techniques and approaches such as DNA barcoding (short genetic marker in an organism’s DNA to identify it as belonging to a particular species), DNA hybridization (measures the degree of genetic similarity between pools of DNA sequences), DNA fingerprinting (to identify an individual from a sample of DNA by looking at unique patterns in their DNA), Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP) analysis (difference in homologous DNA sequences that can be detected by the presence of fragments of different lengths after digestion of the DNA samples), and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) sequencing ( to amplify a specific gene, or portion of gene,) are used as taxonomical tools
Automated species identification tools It consists of Cyber tools. For example: ALIS, DAISY, ABIS, SPIDA, Draw wing, etc. ALIS —-> Automated Leafhopper Identification System. DAISY —-> Digital Automated Identification System. ABIS —–>Automatic Bee Identification System. SPIDA ——> Species Identified Automatically (spiders, wasp and bee wing characters). Draw wing —-> Honey bee wing identification.
Neo taxonomical tools – This is based on Electron Microscopy images to study the molecular structures of cell organelles. Ethology of taxonomical tools – Based on the behaviour of the organisms it can be classified. For example sound of birds, bioluminescence, etc. e-Taxonomic resources – INOTAXA is an electronic resource for digital images and description about the species which was developed by Natural History Museum, London. INOTAXA means IntegratedOpen TAXonomic Access.
Summary
Earth has numerous habitats with a wide range of living organisms inhabiting it. Living organisms show a variety of unique characters different from non-living matter. Classification is the process by which anything is grouped in a convenient category based on some easily observable characters.
Taxonomy is the science of arrangement of living organisms. R. H. Whittaker proposed the five kingdom classification. Three domain classification was proposed by Carl Woese and his co- workers.
The taxonomical hierarchy includes seven categories namely kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. The process of assigning scientific names to animal or taxonomic group is called nomenclature. Each scientific name has two components, generic name and a specific epithet. The important component of the taxonomical tools are field visits, survey, identification, classification, preservation and documentation. Molecular taxonomical tools are more accurate, authentic and significant for taxonimical classification.