Editing Phylogenetics (section)

== Taxonomy and classification ==
{{main|Taxonomy}}

[[Taxonomy (biology)|Taxonomy]] is the identification, naming, and [[Classification (general theory)|classification]] of organisms. <ref name="tax&phylog"/> The [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean classification]] system developed in the 1700s by [[Carl Linnaeus|Carolus Linnaeus]] is the foundation for modern classification methods. Linnaean classification traditionally relied on the phenotypes or physical characteristics of organisms to group species.<ref name="linnaeanClassification">{{cite book |last1=CK-12 Foundation |title=Linnaean Classification |date=6 March 2021 |publisher=Biology LibreTexts |url=https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Introductory_and_General_Biology/Book%3A_Introductory_Biology_(CK-12)/05%3A_Evolution/5.01%3A_Linnaean_Classification |access-date=19 April 2023}}</ref> With the emergence of [[biochemistry]],  classifications of organisms are now often based on DNA sequence data or a combination of DNA and morphology.  Many systematists contend that only [[monophyletic]] taxa should be recognized as named groups.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Wiley |first1=E.O. |author-link1=Edward O. Wiley |title=Phylogenetics: theory and practice of phylogenetic systematics |last2=Lieberman |first2=Bruce S. |author-link2=Bruce S. Lieberman |date=2011 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |isbn=978-0-470-90596-8 |editor-first= |edition=2nd |location=Hoboken, N.J }}</ref> The degree to which classification depends on inferred evolutionary history differs depending on the school of taxonomy: [[phenetics]] ignores phylogenetic speculation altogether, trying to represent the similarity between organisms instead; [[cladistics]] (phylogenetic systematics) tries to reflect phylogeny in its classifications by only recognizing groups based on shared, derived characters ([[synapomorphies]]); [[evolutionary taxonomy]] tries to take into account both the branching pattern and "degree of difference" to find a compromise between inferred patterns of common ancestry and evolutionary distinctness.