sistemàtiques

Systematics, or sistemàtiques, is the scientific study of biodiversity and the relationships among organisms. It covers taxonomy, nomenclature, and phylogenetics, with the aim of producing a classification that reflects evolutionary history. Systematic work integrates data from morphology, genetics, biogeography, and ecology to identify and name natural groups.

History: The field traces to Linnaeus, who established binomial naming and hierarchical ranks. In the 20th century, cladistics, championed by Willi Hennig, reframed systematics around monophyletic groups and phylogenetic trees. Core concepts include clades, monophyly, paraphyly, and polyphyly. Nomenclature codes seek stable, unique names.

Methods and data: Modern systematics combines morphological and molecular data (DNA, RNA, genomes) with computational inference methods—maximum likelihood, Bayesian analysis, and bootstrapping—to reconstruct trees. Phylogenomics uses large-scale data sets. Nomenclature follows codes: ICZN for animals, ICNafp for algae, fungi and plants, and ICNP for prokaryotes. Typification, priority, and availability govern naming.

Applications and challenges: Systematics underpins biodiversity inventories, conservation planning, ecology, and comparative biology. Debates persist over species concepts and the recognition of cryptic species. Data integration and reproducibility remain active areas, aided by public databases such as GenBank, ITIS, and TreeBASE.