From Felis Concolor to Linnaeus: Unveiling the Hidden Unity in Nature's Naming

What do mountain lions, pumas, panthers, and catamounts share in common? These are just four of over a dozen monikers bestowed upon the same creature, known scientifically as Felis concolor, within the United States. While we often use common names for plants and birds when traversing the great outdoors, these labels can often be misleading. For instance, crayfish, starfish, silverfish, and jellyfish bear names that imply a common theme, but in reality, they are not closely related and share no familial ties.

 

The practice of classification has roots dating back to ancient times. Aristotle arranged animals based on their methods of reproduction, whereas Theophrastus categorized plants according to their practical uses and cultivation techniques. In 1735, Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist and physician, revolutionized taxonomy, the science of naming and categorizing living organisms, with the publication of his first edition of Systema Naturae. Linnaeus introduced a novel approach by assigning Latinized names to both plants and animals, utilizing a binomial nomenclature that uniquely identified each living being through a genus and species designation—a system that remains in use today. For example, the genus Canis encompasses closely related animals such as dogs, wolves, coyotes, and jackals, with each member having a distinct species name. Furthermore, Linnaeus established a hierarchical classification system where higher "ranks" encompassed successive lower-level groupings. Related genera were grouped into families, such as the grouping of Canis and Vulpes (foxes) in the Canidae family. According to Linnaeus's classification, the most comprehensive rank was the kingdom, which he divided into two: the animal and plant kingdoms.

This signboard showcases an excerpt from "Methodus plantarum sexualis" (1736), authored by Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–1770), a distinguished German botanist renowned for his botanical illustrations. The displayed image illustrates Linnaeus' creation of twenty-four plant sexual systems.

Linnaeus's classification system categorized organisms into distinct groups based on their physical characteristics and presumed natural relationships, influenced by the prevailing Biblical interpretation that plants and animals were created in their present form. A century later, Charles Darwin provided compelling evidence that extant animals or plants might share a common ancestor, and that extinct organisms could be the forebears of contemporary life forms. Present-day classifications are rooted in phylogenetic systematics, which take into account relationships among both extant and extinct organisms.