Scrapping the idea of a species is an extreme idea – but perhaps a good one.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Taxonomy
Displaying 1 - 20 of 39 articles
The Victorian grassland earless dragon may well be the first lizard species driven to extinction on Australia's mainland. But conservationists aren't ready to declare it dead just yet.
There are more than 850 different species of eucalypts in Australia, and possibly many more we don’t know about.
The largest of these frogs could sit happily on your thumbnail. The smallest is just longer than a grain of rice.
From the reappearance of giant bees to sightings of clouded leopards – can we ever be certain that a species has died out?
Taxonomists are becoming as rare as some of the species they work on, and this puts museum collections and conservation efforts under threat and increases the risk of biosecurity incursions.
Most animal groups adopted their shapes quickly but some kept evolving.
How can there be boom in new species discoveries while others are dying out at unprecedented rates?
India's hump-backed mahseer is one of the world's most prized game fish, yet it was a scientific enigma.
There is good news for plant conservation in South Africa and internationally.
Scientists have been naming species after well-known people since the 18th century, often in a bid for publicity. But the issue deserves attention – 400,000 Australian species are yet to be described.
Australian taxonomy resources number around 70 million specimens, valued at over AU$5 billion. That's big science.
Australia's herbaria are a priceless repository, holding around 8 million samples that map historical and current distributions of native and introduced plant species in Australia.
The latest research dismisses the idea that viruses form a fourth type of life.
The way humans see and engage with the natural world is anything but natural.
Four organisms that show nature isn't so easily categorised.
Humans have an innate interest and ability in naming biologically meaningful entities, or species. Taxonomy, then, vies for the title of world's “oldest profession”.
Many scientific names have changed since China's 'protected species list' was last updated in 1989.
You might worry that people care more about what's on their smartphone than what's in their local wildlife park. But what if we could get them to care about both at the same time?
Despite science refuting the existence of different human races, people have used "race" throughout history to divide and denigrate certain people while promoting their claims of superiority.
Top contributors
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Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol
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Team Leader, Species Interactions, Atlas of Living Australia, UNSW
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Transect Ecologist, University of Adelaide
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Director of Food Innovation, University of Adelaide
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, University of Western Australia
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Emeritus Professor, University of Cape Town
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Susan Lawler is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University
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Associate Professor and Chief Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of New South Wales, UNSW
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Professor, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide and Chief Botanist, State Herbarium of South Australia, University of Adelaide
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ARC Australian Laureate Professor, University of Tasmania
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Endeavour Research Fellow, Post-doctoral scholar, UNSW
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Executive Officer, National Collections & Marine Infrastructure, CSIRO
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Deputy Head of School (Nathan) Griffith School of Environment, Griffith University
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Senior lecturer/Reserch Fellow, Charles Darwin University
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Professor of Ecology, University of Western Australia
