Question

How does Taxonomy differ from phylogeny?

Answer 1

Hint: Taxonomy is the branch of science which deals with the naming and classification of organisms. The classification is based on several parameters including phylogeny. The phylogeny refers to the ancient history or evolutionary relationship of an organism.

Complete answer:
Carolus Linnaeus is known as the father of Taxonomy. He classified organisms based on their visible or shared characteristics. He classified the organisms in various taxa like phylum, kingdom, class, order, family, genus, species. This system of classification holds good but modern biologist prefer to classify the organisms based on the phylogeny or the evolutionary relationship between the organisms.
Let us discuss the difference between taxonomy and phylogeny.

Taxonomy	Phylogeny
Taxonomy is the study of classification.	Phylogeny is the science of the relationship between organisms based on their ancestors.
It is based on the general characteristics of the organisms considering both similarities and dissimilar.	It is based on the evolutionary relationship between organisms.
It helps scientists understand, interpret and organise the varied organisms present on earth.	It helps to understand the organisms at the genetic level. It helps us in knowing how the organisms evolved.
The classification is done on the basis of taxa or ranks whose hierarchical order is the kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.	Here the classification is represented in the form of a phylogenetic tree which shows how the organisms have evolved from a common ancestor.

Note: A phylogenetic tree shows the path of evolution of the organisms from a common ancestor to altogether different descendants. It is a visual representation that shows how the organisms evolved showing the entire history of life on the earth. It shows three-domain bacteria, archaea and eukaryote.