Taxonomy as Part of Science - Essay Example

But the one problem with this kind of classification is that each group needs to have a suffix that would denote its position in the hierarchy, which means that any re-classification of names or discovery of new species leads to a cascade-effect of renaming entire taxonomic groups.A solution to this dilemma lies in the introduction of the PhyloCode way of naming, which could name and organize living beings on the basis of phylogeny, the evolutionary history of a species or group. With advances in modern science, it has become easier to perfectly determine the evolutionary history of a species, and species and clades can be accurately organized according to phytogeny.

In this type of nomenclature, change in one part of the naming organization would not involve any widespread changes. This, coupled with its evolutionary accuracy, is being touted as the major advantage of PhyloCode by its proponents. Changing to PhyloCode from the deeply entrenched Linnean system would mean the re-definition of millions of species, something that the PhyloCode workers have not yet worked out conclusively.Global diversity catalogs will be the first to be affected by any changes that take place: while the Linnean system has the advantage in history and numbers, PhyloCode could soon be throwing the gauntlet, and the catalogs remain flexible to both.