What are the different Taxonomical Aids ?
Procedures, methods and information that are useful in identification and classification of organisms are called taxonomical aids .
Taxonomical Aids are of the following types. :
- Herbarium : It is a collection of dried, pressed and preserved plants. This is usually done on sheets for reference.Standard size is 41cm*29cm.The largest herbarium of the world is at Kew.
- Botanical Gardens : It is a collection of living plants maintained for reference.Largest botanical garden is in Moscow.
- Zoological Parks : Eenclosed areas where animals are kept in open enclosures instead of cages.Useful for exsitu conservation through acaptive breeding of endangered animals.
- Museums : A place used for storage,preservation and exhibition of objects of natural history,art and objects of natural antiquities. Provides information about local flora and fauna but also other areas.
- Keys : Itis used in identification of organisms based upon similarities and dissimilarities.It is a dichotomic table of alternate characters known as couplet, each character of couplet is known as lead.Keys are unique for each category.