Abstract
An integrated framework of biological taxonomy (IFBT) is proposed, in which the advantages of phylogenetic taxonomy and traditional, Linnaean nomenclature, together with the temporal banding methods (Hennig, 1966; Avise & Johns, 1999) are synthesized, without deteriorating the strength of theoretical coherence. The IFBT aims at achieving a completely rank-free reference system of the organismal group in question (i.e., phylogenetic arrangements of the names of clades as parts of timetrees); here, the whole area (all taxon names) of a reference system is called “general domain”, while its part (basic clade names) is called “particular domain”. Thus, the major task of IFBT is to precisely give names to those clades whose times of evolutionary origin are known; here, the categories of evolutionary clades that I recognize are “basic clade”, “holoclade” and “synclade”. Taxon names with standard endings can be used as components of a rank-free system created under the IFBT, when we interpret those taxon names as “meaningless symbols” under the Millian philosophy of language. Thus, introducing the method of using “names with standard endings” into the present clade nomenclature is logically possible. That is, by adopting the temporal bands of geological episodes (non-standard; standard) as the unique criteria for assigning the standard endings to some clade names in naming clades, we name the clades, so that we can create a particular domain of reference system that takes basically the same style as the Linnaean system (of taxon names), in that taxon names with standard endings are arranged in a hierarchical manner. The particular domain can be created by giving “names with standard endings” only to basic clades, out of the clades whose origins are located in one particular temporal band. The reference system is first reconciled with the evolutionary world view, because the taxon names precisely refer only to clades; and second, it also functions well as a convenient system for information storage and retrieval, because the mutual exclusivity of taxon names with standard endings in the particular domain is certain. The best way of practicing the IFBT at the present time is to create only the particular domain, by naming only the basic clades (extant, extinct), using non-standard temporal banding method. The IFBT can construct the particular domains of (rank-free) reference systems, upon the particular Linnaean (ranked) systems of clade names. The IFBT is proposed as the new framework for future biological taxonomy.