What is a “taxonomist”, and what is a “parataxonomist”?
Taxonomists, also known as systematists, are scientists who study the relationships between groups or “taxa” of living things. They collect and preserve plants and animals. Taxonomists analyze and identify the specimens that have been collected by giving them their proper, scientific names according to the classification system first established by Carolus Linneaus in the 1700s. Once an organisms scientific name is known, scientists can communicate about them clearly and reliably – and even if researchers speak different languages, the language of taxonomy is universally understood. Researchers across the world understand exactly what insect is being discussed when they hear or read the words “Anopheles”, the genus name for the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Used in a manner similar to “paralegal” and “paramedic”, the term “parataxonomist” was first coined by NMNH research associate Daniel Janzen in 1993. Parataxonomists work along side taxonomists, collecting, sorting, preserving and
