EvoWiki/Taxonomy

This page is a guide to writing pages about taxonomic groups.

"Taxobox"
We have found that a useful way to present the taxonomy of groups is with a small table (e.g. the ones right for Homo sapiens and Dromaeosauridae).

A "taxobox" can be added to pages to for any level of taxonomic group, following the styles shown in the examples.

This is the code you need to modify for a taxobox:

Minimally a Taxobox should contain the Linnaean ranks to which a species or clade belongs, each one nested inside the other. Where applicable, it may also contain phylogenetically defined groups.

Some notes:
 * The group name should be the common name where there is one, as the latin name will be included elsewhere in the box

Phylogenetic Shorthand
The abbreviations for phylogenetically defined clades should follow the recommendations of the 2003 draft of the PhyloCode.

Node-based names are represented as [A: X and Y], or, the most recent common ancestor of X and Y and all its descendants. For example:

Aves: Archaeopteryx and Neornithes

Thus Aves refers to the most inclusive clade containing Archaeopteryx and Neornithes and all of its descendants. Stem-based names should be represented as [A: X not Y], or, all forms sharing more recent common ancestry with X than with Y. For example:

Maniraptora: Neornithes not Ornithomimus

Thus Maniraptora refers to the most inclusive clade containing all forms sharing more recent common ancestry with Neornithes than with Ornithomimus. Apomorphy-based names should take the form [A: X in Y], or, the clade stemming from the first form with character X homologous (synapomorphic) with the same character in Y. For example:

Avifilopluma: Feathers in Neornithes

Avifilopluma consequently refers to the clade stemming from the first form with feathers homologous with feathers in Neornithes. Stem-modified node-based definitions should take the form {A: crown clade [X and (X not Y)]}, or the common ancestor of X and all extant forms sharing more recent common ancestry with it than with Y. For example:

Neognathae: crown clade [Charadrius and (Charadrius not Struthio, Tetrao)]

So defined, Neognathae refers to the most inclusive clade stemming from the most recent common ancestor of Charadrius and all extant birds that share a more recent common ancestor with Charadrius than with Struthio or Tetrao.