Question

The word species was coined by
(a) John Ray
(b) Mayr
(c) Ernst Haeckel
(d) Linnaeus

Answer 1

Hint: Taxonomy is the study of the arrangement of organisms into different levels or groups based on their mode of nutrition, reproduction, cell structure, etc. These levels include kingdom, phylum, classes, order, families, genus, and species.

Complete answer
John Ray, a well known English naturalist coined the term species. He was the first to give a biological definition for the concept of species. A group of similar living organisms capable of interbreeding is called species. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour, or ecological niche. The qualities of all the organisms of the species, like body mass, length or height are defined as species traits. Different organisms of a species have different trait values because of intraspecific variation, eg. body mass, but together they define a distribution, which is characteristic for each species.

So, the correct answer is 'John Ray'.



Additional Information:
-Ernst Walter Mayr was a leading evolutionary biologist in the 20th century. He was also known for being one of the leading taxonomists, tropical explorer, ornithologist, philosopher of biology, and historian of science.
 -Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist, and artist.
-Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, and physician who formalized binomial nomenclature, that is, the modern system of naming organisms. He is also known as the "father of modern taxonomy".

Note:
1. A system of categorizing living things is called classification or taxonomy. This classification is done through seven categories: (1) Kingdom; (2) Phylum; (3) Class; (4) Order; (5) Family; (6) Genus; (7) Species.
2. Organisms of the same species can reproduce successfully but not with the organisms of different species. Species are the most basic level or group in the system of taxonomy.
3. The range of genetic information available among all individuals of a species is called intraspecific variation.