Researched
Linnaeus and classification
Linnaeus's Systema Naturae (1735) and two-part Latin names gave every species a place in one nested system.
Open in the interactive tree →Carl Linnaeus published the first edition of Systema Naturae in 1735 and introduced consistent two-part names such as Homo sapiens in his later works (plants 1753, animals 1758). His ranked classes, orders, genera and species gave naturalists worldwide a shared language for describing life. The nested pattern it revealed was later explained by Darwin as shared descent.
Prerequisites
- Aristotle's natural history~340 BCLinnaeus's nested kinds descend from Aristotle's grouping of animals by shared traits
- Printing Press~1450
- Scientific Method~1600-1620
Unlocks
- Evolution by natural selection1859Darwin built on the nested classification of living things