question_answer 6)

Define a taxon. Give some examples of taxa at different hierarchical levels.

Answer:

Taxon is a grouping of organisms of any level in hierarchical classification, which is based on some common characteristics, e.g., insects represent a class of phylum-Arthropoda. All the insects possess common characters of three pairs of jointed legs. The term ‘taxon’ was introduced by ICBN in 1956. Examples of taxa are kingdom, phylum or division, class, order, family, genus and species. These taxa form taxonomic hierarchy. e.g., taxa for human: Phylum — Chordata Class — Mammalia Order — Primata Family — Hominidae Genus — Homo Species — sapiens