Taxon

Initial attempts at classifying and ordering organisms (plants and animals) were presumably set forth in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers, as suggested by the fairly sophisticated folk taxonomies.

Much later, Aristotle, and later still, European scientists, like Magnol,[2] Tournefort[3] and Carl Linnaeus's system in Systema Naturae, 10th edition (1758),[4], as well as an unpublished work by Bernard and Antoine Laurent de Jussieu, contributed to this field.

Since then, systematists continue to construct accurate classifications encompassing the diversity of life; today, a "good" or "useful" taxon is commonly taken to be one that reflects evolutionary relationships.

[9] The glossary of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (1999) defines[10] a A taxon can be assigned a taxonomic rank, usually (but not necessarily) when it is given a formal name.

This has given rise to phylogenetic taxonomy and the ongoing development of the PhyloCode, which has been proposed as a new alternative to replace Linnean classification and govern the application of names to clades.