taxon


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to taxon: derived character

tax·on

 (tăk′sŏn′)
n. pl. tax·a (tăk′sə)
A taxonomic category or group, such as a phylum, order, family, genus, or species.

[New Latin, back formation from taxonomy.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

taxon

(ˈtæksɒn)
n, pl taxa (ˈtæksə)
(Biology) biology any taxonomic group or rank
[C20: back formation from taxonomy]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tax•on

(ˈtæk sɒn)

n., pl. tax•a (ˈtæk sə)
a taxonomic category, as a species or genus.
[1945–50; < German (1926), from taxonomy]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.taxon - animal or plant group having natural relations
Adapid, Adapid group - extinct small mostly diurnal lower primates that fed on leaves and fruit; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; their descendents probably include the lemurs; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins
Omomyid, Omomyid group - extinct tiny nocturnal lower primates that fed on fruit and insects; abundant in North America and Europe 30 to 50 million years ago; probably gave rise to the tarsiers; some authorities consider them ancestral to anthropoids but others consider them only cousins
kingdom - the highest taxonomic group into which organisms are grouped; one of five biological categories: Monera or Protoctista or Plantae or Fungi or Animalia
subkingdom - (biology) a taxonomic group comprising a major division of a kingdom
biological group - a group of plants or animals
variety - (biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics; "varieties are frequently recognized in botany"
phylum - (biology) the major taxonomic group of animals and plants; contains classes
subphylum - (biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and a class
superphylum - (biology) a taxonomic group ranking between a phylum and below a class or subclass
class - (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more orders
subclass - (biology) a taxonomic category below a class and above an order
superclass - (biology) a taxonomic class below a phylum and above a class
order - (biology) taxonomic group containing one or more families
suborder - (biology) taxonomic group that is a subdivision of an order
superorder - (biology) a taxonomic group ranking above an order and below a class or subclass
family - (biology) a taxonomic group containing one or more genera; "sharks belong to the fish family"
superfamily - (biology) a taxonomic group ranking below an order but above a family
subfamily - (biology) a taxonomic category below a family
tribe - (biology) a taxonomic category between a genus and a subfamily
genus - (biology) taxonomic group containing one or more species
subgenus - (biology) taxonomic group between a genus and a species
monotype - (biology) a taxonomic group with a single member (a single species or genus)
species - (biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed
subspecies - (biology) a taxonomic group that is a division of a species; usually arises as a consequence of geographical isolation within a species
var., variant, strain, form - (biology) a group of organisms within a species that differ in trivial ways from similar groups; "a new strain of microorganisms"
type - (biology) the taxonomic group whose characteristics are used to define the next higher taxon
group Pteridospermae, group Pteridospermaphyta, Pteridospermae, Pteridospermaphyta - used in some classification systems: a group of extinct fossil gymnosperms coextensive with the order Cycadofilicales
Centrospermae, group Centrospermae - used in former classification systems; approximately synonymous with order Caryophyllales
Amentiferae, group Amentiferae - used in some classification systems for plants that bear catkins
Phycomycetes, Phycomycetes group - a large and probably unnatural group of fungi and funguslike organisms comprising the Mastigomycota (including the Oomycetes) and Zygomycota subdivisions of the division Eumycota; a category not used in all systems
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
Taxon
References in periodicals archive ?
Taxon Biosciences' capabilities are expected to provide synergetic value to Lavie and accelerate the development of Lavie's products.
I bis suggests the latest trends in mycorrhizal bioprotection may not be as robust as one might expect, due to redundancy in taxon usage.
Este concepto considera a los factores bioticos y abioticos necesarios para que las poblaciones de un taxon puedan sobrevivir indefinidamente sin la necesidad de migrar (Grinnell, 1917; Hutchinson, 1944).
Specifically, we examined the proportion of a taxon in catch per station and average weight of individuals collected with 2 types of trawl gear: a 2-m beam trawl and a 4-seam, 3-bridle survey trawl (Bonzek et al.
2: Arboreal pollen concentrations (in percentage) per taxon. Pinaceae 37% Cupressaceae 20% Oleaceae 14% Eucalyptus sp.
Yet despite these programs, little is known today about megabenthic taxon richness across the large spatial extent of the Canadian Arctic.
As has been recently discussed (Perez-Garcia, 2013), the absence of a sagittal keel on the carapace of NHMUK R8699 (a character recognized as exclusive of Tropidemys) refutes its attribution to the plesiochelyid "Pelobatochelys'" blakii as suggested by Taylor and Benton (1986), a taxon also defined in the Kimmeridgian of the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of Dorset.
tomentosa in the north-eastern part of Latvia in Maliena 'Darznieki' IIL (Cinovskis et al., 1987); in 2010 the taxon was not found there any more.
The results revealed that phylum Proteobacteria was dominant taxon (82%) in the GM and the GFP.