What's that animal over there?

From Trust me, I'm a "Biologist" Facebook page.

The plethora of different animals, plants, fungi and all other things out there are so diverse that it is inhuman to keep track of what all of them are, what makes them unique, and what makes them belong to a certain group.

As a paleontology and evolution student, knowing this stuff is important, and I personally enjoy learning about these things, so paying attention to different groups and how they are all related – their position in the big context – is instinctive.

But what about those who do not really care if a tuatara is not technically a lizard? What about those who might be interested, but don't have the education or opportunities to learn or find out for themselves?



This is not a lizard. (I'm not joking.) Technically speaking, the tuatara (Sphenodon) is not included in the taxonomic lizard group (Lacertilia). But who could blame someone for pointg at the tuatara and going "look at that lizard"? How can we go about circumvening these confusions? Image from:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tuatara.jpg

Should we make awareness and understanding of how the scientists classify and organise the living organisms on this planet? Is it important enough?

My dad has always paid attention to and learned lots of native bird and plant species in Sweden, while I could not care less. Of late, I have realised the value of knowing plants, but birds are still a "meh" for me, so I could not identify more than a handful of bird species if my life depended on it! But dad can tell them from their plumage, and many even by their songs.

This puts things in perspective for me: being indifferent to knowing or not knowing bird species, I understand that many people are indifferent to the fact that dolphins and sharks are not even touching the surface of being anywhere near almost distantly related, while they look the same to the unattentive eye, and, therefore, I would not suggest forcing deep taxonomy into general education; however, starting to become interested in plants, and feeling disadvantaged because I missed opportunities to learn many, and because I have not yet found a decent free plant learning guide that is basic and to-the-point effective, I would argue that some sort of basic, comprehensive and effective learning tool for basic taxonomy should be available to whoever is just curious and wants to learn more.

Please let me know if you share my wish!