In order to get the maximum pleasure out of fossil collecting, most amateur paleontologists want to identify and classify the fossils that they have collected. This requires some knowledge of how fossils are classified and how they receive their scientific names.

THE SCIENCE OF CLASSIFICATION

The number of organisms, both living and extinct, is so great that some system of classification is needed to link them all together. Many fossils bear distinct similarities to plants and animals that are living today, and for this reason paleontological classification is similar to that used to classify modern organisms. This system, known as the system of binomial nomenclature, was first used consistently in 1758 by LinnÉ (or Linnaeus), an early Swedish naturalist.

Scientific names established in accordance with the principles of binomial nomenclature consist of two parts: the generic (or genus) name and the trivial name. These names are commonly derived from Greek or Latin words which are usually descriptive of the organism or fossil being named. They may, however, be derived from the names of people or places, and in such instances the names are always Latinized. Greek or Latin is used because they are “dead” languages and not subject to change. They are also “international” languages in that scientists all over the world can use the same names regardless of what language they write in. The system of binomial nomenclature has led to the development of the science of taxonomy, the systematic classification and naming of plants and animals according to their relationships.

THE UNITS OF CLASSIFICATION

The world of organic life has been divided into the plant and animal kingdoms. These kingdoms have been further divided into larger divisions called phyla (from the Greek word phylon, a race). Each phylum is composed of organisms with certain characteristics in common. For example, all animals with a spinal cord (or notochord) are assigned to the phylum Chordata.

The phylum is reduced to smaller divisions called classes, classes are divided into orders, orders into families, families into genera, and each genus is divided into still smaller units called species. A species may be further reduced to subspecies, varieties, or other subspecific categories, but these need not concern us in a publication of this nature.

The following table illustrates the use of binomial nomenclature in the classification of man, a clam, and a dog.

The generic name and the trivial name constitute the scientific name of a species and according to this system of classification the scientific name of all living men is Homo sapiens. It is obvious that there are many variations among individual men, but all men have certain general characteristics in common and are therefore placed in the same species.

In a scientific name, the generic name is always started with a capital letter and the trivial name with a small letter. Both names must be italicized or underlined.

The name of the author (the person who first described the fossil) usually appears following the scientific name. The date of the scientific publication containing the original description of the fossil is often placed after the author. For example:

Turrilites worthensis Adkins and Winton 1920

With the large numbers of plants and animals that are living today, plus those of the past, random naming would result in much confusion. For this reason scientists have established strict rules that must be followed when a specimen is named. The strict application of these rules enables scientists in all parts of the world to assign scientific names without fear of duplication.