Systema Naturae 250 - The Linnaean Ark

The advent of relational databasing and data storage capacity, coupled with revolutionary advances in molecular sequencing technology and specimen imaging, have led to a taxonomic renaissance.Systema Naturae 250 - The Linnaean Ark maps the origins of this renaissance, beginning with Linnaeus, through his "apostles", via the great unsung hero Charles Davies Sherbon ? arguably the father of biodiversity informatics ? up to the present day with the Planetary Biodiversity Inventories and into the future with the Encyclopedia of Life and web-based taxonomy.

The book provides scientific, historical, and cultural documentation of the evolution of taxonomy and the successful adaptation of the Linnaean nomenclature system to that evolution. It underscores the importance of taxonomic accuracy, not only for the classification of living organisms, but for a more complete understanding of the living world and its biodiversity. The book also examines the role of technologies such as DNA sequencing, specimen imaging, and electronic data storage.

A celebration of 250 years of the scientific naming of animals, Systema Naturae 250 - The Linnaean Ark records and explores the history of zoological nomenclature and taxonomy, detailing current and future activity in these fields. Descriptive taxonomy has been in decline, despite the fact that the classification of organisms through taxonomic studies provides the foundation of our understanding of life forms. Packed with illustrations and tables, this book establishes a vision for the future of descriptive taxonomy and marks the beginning of a period of rapid growth of taxonomic knowledge.

The Major Historical Trends of Biodiversity Studies. Linnaeus: A Passion for Order. Daniel Rolander: The Invisible Naturalist. Taxonomy and the Survival of Threatened Animal Species: A Matter of Life and Death. Engineering a Linnaean Ark of Knowledge for a Deluge of Species. Historical Name-Bearing Types in Marine Molluscs: An Impediment to Biodiversity Studies? Flying after Linnaeus: Diptera Names since Systema Naturae (1758). Reviving Descriptive Taxonomy after 250 Years: Promising Signs from a Mega-Journal in Taxonomy. Provisional Nomenclature: The On-Ramp to Taxonomic Names. Future Taxonomy. The Encyclopedia of Life: A New Digital Resource for Taxonomy. Future Taxonomy Today: New Tools Applied to Accelerate the Taxonomic Process. The All Genera Index: Strategies for Managing the BIG Index of All Scientific Names. Linnaeus–Sherborn–ZooBank. ZooBank: Reviewing the First Year and Preparing for the Next 250. Celebrating 250 Dynamic Years of Nomenclatural Debates. 250 Years of Swedish Taxonomy. Appendices. Index.