| Library / English Dictionary |
TAXON
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected form: taxa
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Animal or plant group having natural relations
Synonyms:
taxon; taxonomic category; taxonomic group
Classified under:
Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects
Hypernyms ("taxon" is a kind of...):
biological group (a group of plants or animals)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "taxon"):
Phycomycetes; Phycomycetes group (a large and probably unnatural group of fungi and funguslike organisms comprising the Mastigomycota (including the Oomycetes) and Zygomycota subdivisions of the division Eumycota; a category not used in all systems)
Amentiferae; group Amentiferae (used in some classification systems for plants that bear catkins)
Centrospermae; group Centrospermae (used in former classification systems; approximately synonymous with order Caryophyllales)
group Pteridospermae; group Pteridospermaphyta; Pteridospermae; Pteridospermaphyta (used in some classification systems: a group of extinct fossil gymnosperms coextensive with the order Cycadofilicales)
type ((biology) the taxonomic group whose characteristics are used to define the next higher taxon)
form; strain; var.; variant ((biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups)
race; subspecies ((biology) a taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species)
species ((biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed)
monotype ((biology) a taxonomic group with a single member (a single species or genus))
subgenus ((biology) taxonomic group between a genus and a species)
genus ((biology) taxonomic group containing one or more species)
tribe ((biology) a taxonomic category between a genus and a subfamily)
subfamily ((biology) a taxonomic category below a family)
superfamily ((biology) a taxonomic group ranking below an order but above a family)
family ((biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera)
superorder ((biology) a taxonomic group ranking above an order and below a class or subclass)
suborder ((biology) taxonomic group that is a subdivision of an order)
order ((biology) taxonomic group containing one or more families)
superclass ((biology) a taxonomic class below a phylum and above a class)
subclass ((biology) a taxonomic category below a class and above an order)
class ((biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders)
superphylum ((biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and below a class or subclass)
subphylum ((biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and a class)
phylum ((biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes)
variety ((biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics)
subkingdom ((biology) a taxonomic group comprising a major division of a kingdom)
kingdom (the highest taxonomic group into which organisms are grouped; one of five biological categories: Monera or Protoctista or Plantae or Fungi or Animalia)
Omomyid; Omomyid group (extinct tiny nocturnal lower primates that fed on fruit and insects; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; probably gave rise to the tarsiers; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins)
Adapid; Adapid group (extinct small mostly diurnal lower primates that fed on leaves and fruit; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; their descendents probably include the lemurs; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins)
