April 19, 2004
Looking for a bit of taxonomic history verification
A few days ago, in my physical anthropology class, our instructor told us that Carolus Linnaeus' original taxa included Primates (us and our proximate cousins), Secundates (other mammals), and Tertiates (all other animals)! I can't find independent verification of this (I Googled hard for it)... anyone heard of this and can supply references?
Posted by Russell Whitaker at April 19, 2004 08:54 PM | TrackBack
You might try Ernst Mayr's "The Growth of Biological Thought"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0674364465/qid=1082473629/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-2967387-1659364?v=glance&s=books
It has been the better part of a decade since I read it, and I can't seem to find my copy, but I vaguely remember him talking about this, and he certainly gives a detailed history of the growth of taxonomic systems and their effect on the concept of species and the development of evolutionary theory.
A book well worth the time for anyone entering the biological sciences, at any rate.
steve
Posted by: sjvan on April 20, 2004 08:12 AMSteve, thanks for the reference! Much appreciated.
Posted by: Russell Whitaker on April 20, 2004 11:03 AMDear Russell,
I don't know whether you're still interested in Linnaeus's Primate-Secundate-Tertiate divide. What I know about it is the reference in Richard Milner's The Encyclopedia of Evolution: Humanity's Search for Its Origins (page 553 in my edition). If you can verify it in the original Linnean books, please let me know, as I want to write something about this question for Wikipedia.
I hope this helps.
Dr Xabier Zabaltza
Public University of Navarre
Basqueland, Europe
PRIMAS SUM: PRIMATUM NIL A ME ALIENUM PUTO (EARNESTUS ALBERTUS HOOTONUS, MMDCXL-MMDCCVII A.U.C.).
