Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Zoology
Burdwan Raj College
7th November, 2025
Semester I: ZOOL1021 – Non-chordates
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Key Concepts to be Covered
q Meaning of Systematics
q Difference between Systematics and Taxonomy
q Place of Systematics in Biology
q Contribution to Biology
Origin of the Word: Systematics
qLatinized Greek word – systema (= to put together)
q Carolus Linnaeus: Systema Naturae, 1735 (4th Ed).
The systematics partly overlap with taxonomy and originally used to des-
cribe the system of classification prescribed by early biologists.
“the science of the diversity of organisms”
In the above definition, the word “relationships” is to be understood not in any particular, narrow
phylogenetic sense, but in a fully general way, including all biological interactions among organisms. The
activity of systematics in studying relationships among kinds of organisms almost necessarily requires the
erection of some formal system in which the organisms in question are grouped into classes and of a
vocabulary by which those classes are designated.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
New Systematics
Classical systematics: It is based on the study of
mainly morphological traits of one or a few
specimens with supporting evidences from other
fields.
New Systematics/population systematics and
biosystematics: It takes into consideration all types of
characters including those from classification morphology,
anatomy, cytology, physiology, biochemistry, ecology,
genetics, development (embryology), behavior, etc. of the
whole population instead of a few typological specimens.
It strives to bring out evolutionary relationships amongst
organisms.
The term new systematics was q New systematics is based on the study of all types of variations in the species.
coined by Julian Huxley (1940)
q Along with morphological characters, other investigations are also carried out to
know the variety of traits.
q Delimitation of species is carried out on the basis of all types of biological traits. It is
also called biological delimitation.
q Traits indicating primitiveness and advancement are found out.
q Inter-relationships are brought out.
q Species are considered dynamic.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Systematics
Blackwelder and Boyden (1952): Systematics
is the entire field dealing with the kinds of
animals, their distinction, classification and
Christoffersen (1995): The theory, principles and
evolution.
practice of identifying (discovering) systems, i.e.,
of ordering the diversity of organisms (parts) into
more general systems of taxa according to the
most general causal processes.
C. G. Simpson (1961): Systematics is the
scientific study of the kinds and diversity of
organisms and of any and all relationships
among them. Padian (1999): Systematic can be seen as the
philosophy of organization nature, taxonomy as
the use of sets of organic data guided by
Ernst Mayr (1969) and Mayr and Ashlock systematic principles, and classification as the
(1991): Systematics is the science of the tabular or hierarchical end result of this activity.
diversity of organisms.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Kapoor (1998): the relationship of taxonomy to
Taxonomy vs. Systematics systematics is somewhat like that of theoretical
physics to the whole field of physics.
Classification
Evolution Systematics
Taxonomy
Nomenclature
Wagele (2005): Although
theoretically the term taxonomy and
systematics could be synonyms, in
practice, however, differences in
uses are obvious and a systematist
and a taxonomist can conduct
different analyses.
Taxonomy vs. Systematics
Taxonomy is the most important branch of systematic and
thus systematics is a broader area than taxonomy.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Place of Systematics
Due to the above, systematics holds a unique and
indispensable position among the biological
sciences. This accessibility of organic diversity is
what properties made possible due to classification. Systematics
certain taxa have in
common with each deals with population, species and higher taxa.
other and what the
biological causes
for the difference or
shared characters
are
Systematics
holds a unique
and No other branch of biology occupies itself in a
indispensable similar manner with such level of integration in
position among the organic world.
the biological
sciences
the unique
properties of every
species and higher
taxon It cultivates a way of thinking, a way of
approaching biological problems, which is
tremendously important for the balance and well-
being of biology as a whole.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Branches of Systematics
based on bio-statistical method in
identification and classification of animals
Numerical
Systematics
(Biometry)
identification of various
evolutionary units within a
species and their role in the
process of evolution
deals with classification of
animals on the basis of
Mutation is considered as
biochemical analysis evolutionary unit
Biochemical Experimental
Systematics Systematics
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Applications/Contributions of Systematics
Systematics is the study of diversity of organisms including past and present
[A] Construction of and relationships among living things. Relationships are established by making
Phylogenetic Trees cladograms, phylogenetic trees and phylogenies. The phylogeny is the
evolutionary history of an animal or plant, for a taxonomic group
The field of systematics provides scientific names of the organisms, description
[B] Classification of the species, ordering the organisms into higher taxa, classification of the
organisms and evolutionary histories
it attempts to explain the biodiversity which is related to different kinds of species and could be
[C] Conservation used in preservation and protect the endangered animals and plants.
The loss of biodiversity is related to the extreme harmful of the existence of mankind.
There are a lot of insects which act as vectors of various human diseases. For
example, some species of Anopheles sp. are the vector of malaria diseases,
[D] Biological control Aedes aegypti spreads the virus of dengu fever and Phlebotomus argentipes
spreads the pathogens of kala-azar fever.
Organic diversity is not chaotic but patterned, revealing all sorts of
[E] Patterned Diversity regularities. The task of the systematics is to discover the true nature and
causation of these patterns.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Applications/Contributions of Systematics
The famous case of epidemiology of malaria, caused by Anopheles maculipennis, was reported
throughout Europe, yet malaria was restricted to local districts. Large amounts of money were
[F] Epidemiology wasted and yet no one understood the connection between the distribution of the mosquito and that
of malaria.
Dating of rocks is generally done through radioactive decay, but sedentary rocks can be dated through their
[G] Determination of
enclosed flora and fauna. The taxonomist plays a vital role by identifying such flora and fauna and formulating a
sequential events clear picture of the geological events.
Various environmental problems have been successfully tackled by systematists. Environmental problems such as pollution,
[H] Environmental
leads to the persistence of certain non-biodegradable pollutants in the environment. Tracing the movement of these
problems pollutants in the food chain requires the identification of the various species that constitute the biotic community
Many animals and microbes play important role in increasing soil fertility. It is essential to locate such
[I] Soil fertility species and detect the role they play in soil fertility, so that such species can be utilised in
agricultural management practices
Correct identification of commercially important species and the role they play in the ecosystem
[J] Introduction of
provides useful information for their introduction.
commercially important
Apis mellifera (the Italian honey bee), Cyprinus carpio (common carp) etc. are some exotic species
exotic species that have been successfully introduced in India.
One of the two roots of population genetics is systematics. The problem of multiplication of species
[K] Theoretical Biology
was solved by them.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Basic Components
[A] Characterization/Description: The
description of a taxon involves listing its
features by recording the appropriate character
states. A shortened description consisting of
only those taxonomic characters that help
separate a taxon from other closely related taxa
[B] Identification: ‘Identification’ or ‘determination’
forms the diagnosis, and the characters are
is the recognition of an unknown specimen with an
termed diagnostic characters. already known taxon and assigning of a correct rank
and position in an extant classification. In practice, it
involves finding a name for an unknown specimen.
[C] Nomenclature: Application of distinctive
names to each of the groups recognized in the
zoological classification.
[D] Phylogeny: Phylogeny is the study of genealogy
ICZN (the study of families, family history, and the tracing of
their lineages - ancestral relationships) and the
evolutionary history of a taxonomic group.
Relationships are depicted through a diagram better
known as a phylogram (Stace, 1989), since the
commonly used term cladogram is more appropriately
used for a diagram constructed through the cladistic
methodology.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Basic Components: Phylogram
A phylogenetic tree is the general term for a branching diagram that illustrates evolutionary
relationships, while a phylogram is a specific type of phylogenetic tree where the lengths of the
branches are proportional to the amount of evolutionary change or genetic distance.
In other words, a phylogram is a scaled phylogenetic tree that shows both the relationships and the
magnitude of evolutionary divergence, while other phylogenetic trees, like cladograms, may show
relationships but not scaled by time or divergence.
q Monophyletic groups: including all the descendants of a common
ancestor, are recognized and form entities in a classification
system.
q Paraphyletic groups: wherein some descendants of a common
ancestor are left out, are reunited (a group is paraphyletic if it
consists of the group's last common ancestor and all descendants
of that ancestor excluding a few—typically only one or two—
monophyletic subgroups).
q Polyphyletic groups: with more than one common ancestor, are
split to form monophyletic groups.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Basic Components
[E] Classification: Classification is the systematic arrangement of animals in series showing
their relation or agreement in structure, life habits, or other characters, i.e., delimitation,
ordering, and ranking of taxa. It is an arrangement of organisms into groups on the basis of
similarities.
The process of classification includes assigning an appropriate position and rank to a new
taxon (a taxonomic group assigned to any rank; pl. taxa).
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Basic Components
[a] Artificial classification is utilitarian (designed to be
useful, rather than practical), based on arbitrary, easily
observable characters such as habit, color, number, form, or
similar features.
Artificial classification [b] Natural classification: uses overall similarity in grouping
taxa, a concept initiated by M. Adanson and culminating in
the extensively used classification of Bentham and Hooker.
Natural systems of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
used morphology in delimiting the overall similarity.
Natural Classification
[c] Phenetic classification: Phenetic classifications were
strongly advocated by Sneath and Sokal (1973) but did not
find much favor with major systems of classification of higher
plants. This system is exclusively based on the face value of
Classification Phenetic classification observed characters without direct reference to phylogeny.
[d] Phylogenetic classification: is based on the evolutionary
descent of a group of organisms, the relationship depicted
Phylogenetic either through a phylogram, phylogenetic tree or cladogram.
classification
[e] Evolutionary classification: is not still clearly distinct
from phylogenetic classification. It differs from a phylogenetic
classification in that the gaps in the variation pattern of
Evolutionary phylogenetically adjacent groups are regarded as more
classification important in recognizing groups. Such classifications have
been advocated by Simpson (1961), Ashlock (1979), Mayr and
Ashlock (1991) and Stuessy (1990). The approach, known as
eclecticism, is practiced by eclecticists.
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Hierarchical categories [I.C.Z.N.]
q Kingdom
q Phylum
q Superclass
Class
q Subclass
Cohort
q Superorder
Order
Suborder
q Superfamily
Family
q Subfamily
Tribe
q Genus
Subgenus
q Species
q Subspecies
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College
Syamdas Bandyopadhyay, PhD Burdwan Raj College