Systematics

General Information

For centuries, scientists have tried to detect, identify, describe, compare and analyze organisms and their amazing diversity. This endeavour is known as systematics, which can be defined as “the scientific study of the kinds and diversity of organisms and of any or all of the relationships among them.” Thus the final goal of systematic research is to detect and to identify species, to describe and to name them according to well-accepted rules and to place them into a hierarchical system which should consider the history of evolution, i.e., the phylogenetic relationships of species. Hillis and Moritz preferred to use systematics in the broad sense of the term, that is to elucidate both interspecific as well as intraspecific diversity, to study the variation within populations and the factors which causes population diversity, leading finally to the development of new species. Therefore systematic research is concerned with population genetics, phylogeny, speciation...