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In biological classification, family (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: familia, plural familiae) is a taxonomic rank
Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code
Nomenclature Codes

The Nomenclature Codes are the rulebooks that govern biological nomenclature.After the successful introduction of two-part names for species by Carolus Linnaeus it became ever more apparent that a detailed body of rules was necessary to govern scientific names....
 which applies.
Example: "Walnuts and Hickories belong to the Walnut family" is a brief way of saying: the Walnuts (genus Juglans) and the Hickories (genus Carya
Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17?19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaf and large nut ....
) belong to the Walnut family (family Juglandaceae
Juglandaceae

The Juglandaceae, also known as the Walnut Family, is a family of trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Various members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia....
). The classifications of taxonomy are life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
, domain
Domain (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, a domain is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms, higher than a Kingdom . According to the three-domain system of Carl Woese, introduced in 1990, the Tree of life consists of three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota....
, kingdom
Kingdom (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
, phylum
Phylum

A phylum "Phylum" is adopted from the Greek phylai, the clan-based voting groups in Greek city-states. is a taxonomic rank below Kingdom and above Class ....
, class
Class (biology)

A class is the taxonomic rank in the biological classification of organisms in biology below phylum and above Order .The orders of taxonomy are life, Domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
, family, genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, and species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
.


ly, as a rank intermediate between order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 and genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, is a relatively recent invention.

The term familia was coined by French botanist Pierre Magnol
Pierre Magnol

Pierre Magnol was a French people botanist. He was born in the city of Montpellier, where he lived and worked for the biggest part of his life....
 in his Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur (1689) where he called families (familiae) the seventy-six groups of plants he recognised in his tables.






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In biological classification, family (Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
: familia, plural familiae) is a taxonomic rank
Taxonomic rank

Taxonomic rank, taxonomic category, rank, or category is an abstract term used in the scientific classification, or taxonomy, of organisms....
. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Code
Nomenclature Codes

The Nomenclature Codes are the rulebooks that govern biological nomenclature.After the successful introduction of two-part names for species by Carolus Linnaeus it became ever more apparent that a detailed body of rules was necessary to govern scientific names....
 which applies.
Example: "Walnuts and Hickories belong to the Walnut family" is a brief way of saying: the Walnuts (genus Juglans) and the Hickories (genus Carya
Hickory

Trees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17?19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaf and large nut ....
) belong to the Walnut family (family Juglandaceae
Juglandaceae

The Juglandaceae, also known as the Walnut Family, is a family of trees, or sometimes shrubs, in the order Fagales. Various members of this family are native to the Americas, Eurasia, and Southeast Asia....
). The classifications of taxonomy are life
Life

Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
, domain
Domain (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, a domain is the highest taxonomic rank of organisms, higher than a Kingdom . According to the three-domain system of Carl Woese, introduced in 1990, the Tree of life consists of three domains: Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryota....
, kingdom
Kingdom (biology)

In Biology taxonomy, kingdom or regnum is a taxonomic rank in either the highest rank, or the Rank below domain . Each kingdom is divided into smaller groups called Phylum ....
, phylum
Phylum

A phylum "Phylum" is adopted from the Greek phylai, the clan-based voting groups in Greek city-states. is a taxonomic rank below Kingdom and above Class ....
, class
Class (biology)

A class is the taxonomic rank in the biological classification of organisms in biology below phylum and above Order .The orders of taxonomy are life, Domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
, family, genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, and species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
.


History of the concept

Family, as a rank intermediate between order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 and genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
, is a relatively recent invention.

The term familia was coined by French botanist Pierre Magnol
Pierre Magnol

Pierre Magnol was a French people botanist. He was born in the city of Montpellier, where he lived and worked for the biggest part of his life....
 in his Prodromus historiae generalis plantarum, in quo familiae plantarum per tabulas disponuntur (1689) where he called families (familiae) the seventy-six groups of plants he recognised in his tables. The concept of rank at that time was still in statu nascendi, and in the preface to the Prodromus Magnol spoke of uniting his families into larger genera, which is far from how the term is used today. But the modern usage of the rank "Family" was first recorded in the works of Ernst Haeckel
Ernst Haeckel

'Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel' ,also written 'von Haeckel', was an eminent Germany biologist, natural history, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a genealogical tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology, including phylum, ph...
, especially in Die systematische Phylogenie (1894) - "Systematic Phylogeny", which has been considered his best book.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, however, the term has been consistently used in its modern sense. Its usage and characteristic ending of the names belonging to this category are defined in the Codes of botanical
International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature is the set of rules and recommendations dealing with the formal botanical names that are given to plants....
 and zoological
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature

The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature is a set of rules in zoology that have one fundamental aim: to provide the maximum universality and continuity in the naming of all animals according to taxonomy judgment....
 nomenclature.

Almost all families are named for a type genus, and are formed by adding the ending -idae (animals) or -aceae (plants) to the stem of the genus name. Exceptions are:
  • Caprifoliaceae
    Caprifoliaceae

    The Caprifoliaceae or honeysuckle family is a clade consisting of about 800 dicotyledonous flowering plants, with a nearly cosmopolitan distribution; centres of diversity are found in eastern North America and eastern Asia, while they are absent in tropical and southern Africa....
    , Aquifoliaceae, and Fabaceae
    Fabaceae

    Fabaceae or Leguminosae is a large and economically important family of flowering plants, which is commonly known as the legume family, pea family, bean family or pulse family....
    , named for their type species Lonicera caprifolium, Ilex aquifolia, and Vicia faba.
  • Theaceae
    Theaceae

    The Theaceae is a family of flowering plants, composed of shrubs and trees. The Theaceae is part of order Ericales, in the branch of the dicots known as the Asterids....
    , named for Thea, a synonym of Camellia.
  • Eight families of plants with alternate names. Fabaceae is also called Leguminosae, Poaceae
    Poaceae

    Poaceae or Gramineae is a family in the Class Liliopsida of the Magnoliophyta. Plants of this family are usually called grasses; the shrub- or tree-like plants in this family are called bamboo ....
     Gramineae, etc.
  • Elapidae
    Elapidae

    The Elapidae, or elapids, are a family of venom snakes found in tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Indian Ocean and the Pacific....
    . The type genus is Homoroselaps, which was originally named Elaps but was temporarily moved to a different family and the name changed as a result.


See also

  • Systematics
    Systematics

    Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of life on the planet Earth, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time....
    , the study of the diversity of life
    Life

    Life is a characteristic of organisms that exhibit certain biological processes such as chemical reactions or other events that results in a transformation....
  • Cladistics
    Cladistics

    Cladistics is the hierarchical classification of species based on evolutionary ancestry. Cladistics is distinguished from other taxonomic systems because it focuses on evolution rather than similarities between species, and because it places heavy emphasis on objective, quantitative analysis....
    , the classification of organisms by their order of branching in an evolutionary tree
  • List of families
    List of families

    This is a list of Family used in scientific classification.=Kingdom Animalia=...
    , list of family names in the taxonomy
    Taxonomy

    Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
     of biology
    Biology

    Biology is a branch of the natural sciences concerned with the study of living organisms and their interaction with each other and their environment ....
  • Phylogenetics
    Phylogenetics

    In biology, phylogenetics is the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms , which is discovered through molecular sequencing data and morphological data matrices....
    , the study of evolutionary relatedness among various groups of organisms
  • Taxonomy
    Taxonomy

    Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
  • Compare Family
    Family

    Family denotes a group of people affiliated by a common ancestry, affinity or co-residence. Although the concept of consanguinity originally referred to relations by "blood," some cultural anthropology have argued that one must understand the idea of "blood" metaphorically, and that many societies understand 'family' through other concepts r...
  • Virus classification
    Virus classification

    Virus classification involves naming and placing viruses into a Alpha taxonomy system. Like the relativelyconsistent classification systems seen for cell , virus classification is the subject of ongoing debate and proposals....
  • protein family
    Protein family

    A protein family is a group of evolutionarily related proteins, and is often nearly synonymous with gene family. The term protein family should not be confused with Family as it is used in taxonomy....
  • gene family
    Gene family

    A gene family is a set of genes with a known homology . They are generally biochemically similar. Genes are categorized this way into families, depending on shared nucleotide or protein sequences....