Taxon (redirected from Supertaxon)

taxon (pl. taxa), in biology, a term used to denote any group or rank in the classification of organisms, e.g., class, order, family.

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taxon [′tak‚sän]

(systematics)

A taxonomic group or entity.

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Taxon 

a group of discrete objects related by more or less common properties and characteristics, thereby serving as a basis for assigning the objects to a particular taxonomic category. The identification of a taxon may be based on various properties and characteristics of objects, such as common origin, structure, composition, shape, or function, but the set of properties and characteristics in each case must be necessary and sufficient for the given taxon to occupy a unique place in a system and not intersect other taxa.

In dealing with problems of systematics and taxonomy, it is sometimes important to make a clear distinction between the terms “taxon” and “taxonomic category.” A taxon always characterizes a specific set of objects, such as objects in the organic world, units of geographic description, or linguistic units. A taxonomic category reflects only the designation and logical conditions for distinguishing the given level of the hierarchy or organizational ranking of a system. Thus, in biology, where these categories are used most often, the concepts of species, genus, and family belong to the class of taxonomic categories, whereas the Scotch pine and rodents, for example, form taxa.