Question

Distinguish between:
(a) Systematics and taxonomy
(b) Artificial and natural systems of classification
(c) Species and taxon

Answer 1

Hint: Due to the diversity of organisms in the world, scientists felt the need to classify them into particular groups taking into various considerations like the morphological characters, etc. This will help them to better understand the similarities and similarities among organisms.

Complete answer:
(a) Systematics and taxonomy

Property	Systematics	Taxonomy
Definition	Systematics is the branch of biology concerned with reconstructing phylogenies, naming, and classifying species.	It is the branch of biology dealing with the identification, nomenclature, and classification of living organisms.
Purpose	Its purpose is to understand the relationship among diverse species.	Its purpose is to classify and put organisms into different taxa.
Evolutionary history	The Evolutionary history of an organism is of prime importance.	The evolutionary history of an organism is not studied.

(b) Artificial system and the natural system of classification

Property	Artificial system of classification	Natural system of classification
Definition	It is a type of classification based on the arbitrary, easily observable, single or few morphological characters of organisms.	This type of classification is based on the overall similarities or affinities derived from overall characters i.e morphological as well as physiological.
Characters considered	Characters such as habit, color, number of any particular part like stamens in plants, habitat, etc.	The characters considered in this system of classification include morphology, anatomy, embryology, phytochemistry, ultrastructure, etc.
Examples	Linnaeus system of classification	Bentham and Hooker’s system of classification

(c) Species and taxon

Property	Taxon	Species
Definition	A taxon represents any level of grouping of organisms based on certain easily observable common characteristics.	Species are the basic level of organization or taxonomic category assigned to a group of organisms.
Property	The taxon represents a unit of classification.	It represents a real set of organisms.
Examples	The taxa are kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.	Banyan, neem, tiger are some examples of species.

Note:
- The hierarchical arrangement of taxons is as follows: Kingdom, Phylum(for animals) or Division (for plants),Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species.
- Sub-categories like sub-phylum or sub-division or tribe have also been created in this hierarchy to make the arrangement more transparent and scientifically useful.