
Contents
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8.1 Introduction 8.1 Introduction
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8.2 From antiquity to seventeenth century 8.2 From antiquity to seventeenth century
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8.2.1 Plato and Aristotle 8.2.1 Plato and Aristotle
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8.2.2 Sixteenth-and seventeenth-century naturalists 8.2.2 Sixteenth-and seventeenth-century naturalists
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8.3 Eighteenth century 8.3 Eighteenth century
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8.3.1 Linnaeus 8.3.1 Linnaeus
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8.3.2 Buffon 8.3.2 Buffon
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8.4 Lamarck, Cuvier, and other nineteenth-century zoologists 8.4 Lamarck, Cuvier, and other nineteenth-century zoologists
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8.5 Darwin and the evolutionary concept of the genus 8.5 Darwin and the evolutionary concept of the genus
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8.6 Twentieth-century concepts of the genus 8.6 Twentieth-century concepts of the genus
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8.6.1 The “evolutionary” or gradist concept 8.6.1 The “evolutionary” or gradist concept
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8.6.2 The “phylogenetic” or cladist concept 8.6.2 The “phylogenetic” or cladist concept
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8.6.3 The biological concepts 8.6.3 The biological concepts
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8.7 Controversies in the early twenty-first century 8.7 Controversies in the early twenty-first century
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8.7.1 Cladification versus classification 8.7.1 Cladification versus classification
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8.7.2 Discordant ideas about the genus Homo 8.7.2 Discordant ideas about the genus Homo
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8.8 Conclusion: the PhyloCode and the end of genera 8.8 Conclusion: the PhyloCode and the end of genera
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Appendix 1 Animal classification Appendix 1 Animal classification
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Appendix 2 Original Latin and French texts of long quotations Appendix 2 Original Latin and French texts of long quotations
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A.2.1 Linnaeus: Ratio operis of the Genera plantarum (1737) A.2.1 Linnaeus: Ratio operis of the Genera plantarum (1737)
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A.2.2 Buffon A.2.2 Buffon
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A.2.2.1 Histoire Naturelle, tome 1er (1749: 13) A.2.2.1 Histoire Naturelle, tome 1er (1749: 13)
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A.2.2.2 “Nomenclature des Singes,” Histoire naturelle, tome 14e (1766: 29–30) A.2.2.2 “Nomenclature des Singes,” Histoire naturelle, tome 14e (1766: 29–30)
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A.2.3 Lamarck: Philosophie zoologique (1809: 32) A.2.3 Lamarck: Philosophie zoologique (1809: 32)
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A.2.4 Cuvier: Le Règne animal distribué d’après son organisation (1817: 8–9). A.2.4 Cuvier: Le Règne animal distribué d’après son organisation (1817: 8–9).
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References References
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8 How general are genera? The genus in systematic zoology
Get accessLaboratoire SPHERE UMR 7219 (ex-REHSEIS), Université Paris 7
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Published:06 July 2017
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Abstract
This article examines how the genus category was perceived and conceived in zoology (with occasional references to botany), in reference to species on the one hand and to higher categories on the other hand. In systematic zoology and botany, animals and plants are classified and named according to their species, genera, and higher categories (family, order, etc.). Linguistic relationships between the words ‘genus’ and ‘general, generality’ might have played a role in some intuitive meaning of the genus. This article traces the evolution of the concept of genus as used in systematic zoology from antiquity to the present time, focusing on the contributions of Plato, Aristotle, Carl Linnaeus, Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Georges Cuvier, and Charles Darwin. It also considers the introduction of a new, rank-free system called the PhyloCode to replace Linnaean ranking—and especially the genus level.
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