Taxonomy of Micro-organisms

(Project Update: Diatoms & Desmids of the U.S.A.)

Classifying micro-organisms can be a daunting task, especially since taxonomists themselves cannot agree on the system to be utilized. For example: the system used by iNaturalist places desmids in the Kingdom Plantae; another equally valid system places them in the Kingdom Proctista; and yet another in the Kingdom Chromista. From that point on, the matter only gets worse.

When researching micro-organisms on the internet one cannot always be certain which site is using which system and confusion of names can reign. One system might label a Family with a term that others do not recognize, or even use for another purpose. One minor saving grace is the photo-micrograph. If one cannot identify an organism by “name”, at least one can identify it by “sight”. Inadequate as it may sound, or actually be, this project will simply have to perform its work as best it can under the circumstances.

Posted on April 22, 2013 12:30 PM by william_dembowski