taxae

Taxae is a term that appears in some Latinized taxonomic texts as a plural form related to the word taxon. In contemporary English-language taxonomy, the widely used plural is taxa. As a result, taxae is considered archaic or idiosyncratic and is rarely encountered in modern scientific writing.

Origin and usage

The form taxae arises from Latin grammar, where Latin plurals are often used in older scholarly works to render taxonomic concepts in a Latinized style. Because most current taxonomic literature uses English terminology, the standard plural taxa has become the conventional choice in most journals, field guides, and nomenclature codes. When taxae does appear, it is typically in historical documents, translations, or inherited text rather than in current practice.

Clarification for readers

For clarity and consistency, readers and writers should prefer taxa when referring to multiple taxonomic units such as species, genera, or higher groups. If encountering taxae in a source, it is reasonable to recognize it as an historical or nonstandard plural form and interpret it as referring to multiple taxon-level groups, equivalent in meaning to taxa in modern usage.

See also

Taxon, Taxonomy, Nomenclature, Biological classification.