Question

1)Why is it important to have holotypes for species?

2)How is the Scala naturae (or great chain of being) different from a phylogenetic tree?

3)Why is Binomial Nomenclature such a useful and needed tool in systematics and taxonomy?

Answer 1

1.Holotype is a valuable original specimen that describes a new species.When species is formally described, scientists often base that description on a single specimen and this specimen is preserved to be made available for other researchers.

2.Scala naturae  is an obsolete concept that life was organised in a linear hierarchy with organism increasing in perfection from lower to higher forms wheras phylogenetic tree is a branching diagram showing the evolutionary relationship among various biological species based upon similarities and diff in physical or genetic che.

3.Binomial nomenclature is important because each organism has given a name containing genus and species which is constant all over the world i.e. easy to describe any organism by this name without any confusion.