A Brief History of the Science of Naming Things
What can we learn from taxonomy?
I’d like to tell you about an animal you might find interesting. It’s scientifically known as Mus musculus, and it’s a rather small, furry, territorial mammal. It grows to around 10cm, its fur color varies, and it’s one of the most abundant species of the genus Mus.
It’s a very peculiar species. It can swim and climb great distances, and it can jump up to a foot in the air. It can control the blood flow to its furless tail, raising its surface heat by 10 degrees Celsius. It communicates by using pheromones, secreted by a specific gland or in tears and urine. This is convenient, because the animal leaves tiny droplets of urine behind as it walks around (along with around 80 droppings a day). Its eyesight isn’t great; it sees fewer colors than we do, but it mostly senses its surroundings with its whiskers.
I’m sure you’ve guessed the common name of this Mus musculus — it’s the house mouse. Mus musculus is its binomial name (from Greek; binomial meaning “of two parts”). Every known species — extinct or extant, whether animal, plant, bacteria, or mineral — has a binomial name. These names help us arrange the mind-boggling number of species on Earth into one universal and standard system. The scientific field that deals with nomenclature is called Taxonomy, which…
