Taxonomic Aids – Definition, Types & Significance

Taxonomical aids are considered to be the collection of different preserved organisms that contribute towards conducting extensive research to identify the type of taxonomical hierarchy. Have you seen specimens stored in bottles in your biology labs? Have you ever kept the banyan leaf in your notebooks during your childhood days? Over the years, biologists have developed many methods and techniques that help in extensive research and the identification of various taxonomic hierarchies of different plant and animal specimens, and these methods and techniques are called Taxonomical Aids. This article covers all the details related to Taxonomic Aids that has the efficiency to contribute towards different researches and studies of different specimens.

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Taxonomy: Details

Taxonomy is the branch of biology that deals with the study of identification, classification and naming of an organism. The approach followed to classify different organisms into different categories require a significant amount of laboratory study as well as field work. Taxonomic categorization contributes towards identifying different organisms that play a significant role in bio resources, industries, agriculture, etc.

Taxonomic Aids

Taxonomic studies of animals, plants, microorganisms and other species are highly useful in the field of forestry, industry, agriculture and the study of biodiversity. Hence, the organism should be identified, classified and information of the organism should be stored for future studies and references. This storehouse of information and specimens that helps in taxonomic studies are called Taxonomic Aids.

Fig: Taxonomic Aids

Taxonomic Aids: Types

Some of the taxonomical aids are as follows:

Fig: Types of Taxonomical Aids

1. Herbarium

i. A herbarium is the storehouse of plant specimens.
ii. It is a collection of dried, pressed, plant specimens that are arranged systematically according to a universally accepted system of classification.
iii. The Bentham and Hooker system is followed in most of Herbaria.
iv. The sheets on which the specimens are mounted are called Herbarium sheets and are about \(28 \times 43{\rm{ }}\left( { + 1{\rm{ }}\,{\rm{or}}\,{\rm{ }} – 1} \right){\rm{ cm}}.\)
v. The Herbarium sheet should contain the following information:
a. Date of collection
b. Vernacular names (local names)
c. Scientific name
d. Family
e. Habitat
f. Description
g. Collector’s name.
vi. Herbarium gives a quiet reference for taxonomic studies. All institutes dealing with botanical studies possess herbaria.
vii. The largest Herbarium in the world is at Royal Botanical Garden, Kew, England – \(1853.\)
viii. The total number of plant specimens are about \(6.5\) million.
ix. Another Botanical Herbarium called Central National Herbarium is at Indian Botanical Garden, Howrah, Kolkata.
x. Some of the other examples are as follows:
a. National Botanical Garden, Lucknow
b. Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bangalore, Karnataka
c. Government Botanical Garden, Ooty
d. Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Trivandrum, Kerala.

Fig: Herbarium

Fig: Process of Herbarium

2. Flora

It is a book containing a description of plants of an area, their identification, keys, distribution, habitats and environmental conditions in which they occur.
Examples: Carnatic Flora and Flora of Delhi.

3. Keys

i. Key is another taxonomical aid used for the identification of plants and animals based on similarities and dissimilarities.
ii. Keys are of two types, i.e., dichotomous keys (bracketed key and indented key) and poly clave keys.
iii. Dichotomous Keys is the one in which the choices allow only two alternative couplets. There are two types of dichotomous keys – Indented Keys, also called yoked and Bracketed Keys.
iv. Poly clave key is relatively a new alternative to dichotomous keys and becoming increasingly popular, especially because of the ease of computerizing them and is also termed multiple access or synoptic key. This key is based on the identification of species by the process of elimination.
v. The keys are based on the contrasting characters generally in a pair called a couplet.
vi. Each statement in the key is called a lead.
vii. Separate taxonomic keys are required for each taxonomic category such as family, genus and species for identification purposes.

4. Manual

It is a book containing information for the identification of names of species found in an area.

5. Monograph

It is the publication that provides complete information about various aspects of biology, including the taxonomy of taxa.

Fig: Monograph

6. Catalogue

It is the list of systematic arrangements of plants and animals found in an area with their brief description that helps in identifying them.

7. Botanical Garden

Botanical gardens are the place where varieties of plants collected from different places of the world are grown together in a protected environment.
i. It may consist, many rare, elite, exotic species.
ii. It shows rich biodiversity and plays an important role in germplasm conservation.
iii. In the Botanical Garden, all plants carry identification plates, having a common name, botanical name and the name of the family that belongs.
iv. There are around \(526\) Botanical gardens in the world. Every institute teaching Botany will maintain a small-sized Botanical Garden.
v. Examples are as follows:
a. National Botanical Garden – Lucknow
b. National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI).

Fig: Botanical Garden

8. Biological Museum

It is the collection of preserved plants and animals’ specimens for study and references.

i. Specimens are preserved in jars using preservative solutions of alcohol and formalin.
ii. Only those plants that cannot be kept in the herbarium are preserved.
iii. Some of the specimens include algae, fungi, mosses, ferns, succulents, fruits, etc. Even fishes, reptiles, amphibians, etc., are stored.
iv. Large animals are preserved in skeleton forms. Insects are dried out and mounted over pins inside the insect boxes.
v. Others are preserved as dry specimens in the Biological Museum.
vi. Examples are as follows:
a. Natural History Museum, London
b. Field Museum of natural history, Chicago
c. United States National Museum, Washington.

Fig: Biological Museum

9. Zoological Park

Zoological Park is an enclosed area where wild animals are kept in an open, natural, but protected environment under human care.

i. Zoological parks are the best places to study the behaviour and food habitats of wild animals.
ii. Zoological parks help in conserving endangered animals and their multiplication through captive breeding.
iii. In India, there are around \(200\) Zoological parks.
iv. Zoological Parks are also important spots for children, students and the public to see wild animals.
v. Examples are as follows:
a. National Zoological Park, Delhi, New Delhi
b. Mysore Zoo, Mysuru, Karnataka
c. Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Pune, Maharashtra
d. Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
e. Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, Telangana.

Fig: Zoological Park

Taxonomical Aids: Significance

Some of the importance of Taxonomical Aids are as follows:

i. These taxonomic aids help to store and preserve the information and also the specimens.
ii. The collection of actual specimens of animal and plant species is essential and is the primary source of taxonomic studies.
iii. These are also essential for training in systematics, which is used for the classification of an organism.
iv. Hence, taxonomic aids facilitate identification, naming and classification of organisms using actual specimens collected from the fields and preserved as referrals in the form of herbaria, museums, etc.
v. Botanic gardens and zoological parks are also standard ex-situ conservation methods of plants and animals.

Summary

Through this article, we understood many facts related to Taxonomic Aids. Taxonomic studies of various specimens of plants, animals and other organisms are useful in many fields such as forestry, industry, agriculture, and in knowing their biodiversity. These studies would require the correct classification and identification of organisms.

We also understood that there are certain procedures and techniques to store and preserve the information as well as the specimens. We also got to know many examples of biological gardens and biological zoos of the world.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Taxonomic Aids

Frequently asked questions related to taxonomic aids are listed as follows:

Q. What are taxonomical aids? Give two examples?
Ans: Taxonomic aid is a study of various species of plants, animals and other microbes that require correct identification, classification and information. The two examples are Herbarium and Botanical Garden.

Q. What are herbarium techniques?
Ans: The herbarium techniques involve a series of operations, such as a collection of species, pressing, drying, and poisoning, mounting, labelling, deposition, etc.

Q. What is the first name in a scientific name?
Ans: The first name in a scientific name is Genus.

Q. What is the importance of taxonomic aids?
Ans: The importance of taxonomic aids are as follows:
1. These taxonomic aids help to store and preserve the information and also the specimens. 
2. The collection of actual specimens of animal and plant species is essential and is the primary source of taxonomic studies.
3. These are also essential for training in systematics, which is used for the classification of an organism.

Q. What is a taxonomic key?
Ans: A taxonomic key is another taxonomical aid used for the identification of plants and animals based on similarities and dissimilarities.

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