About - Taxonomy
This section is rather closely tied with Scientific Names (linked here if you wish to read it as well).
Building upon the confirmation that Pokémon do have scientific names, I have constructed taxonomical rankings for them as well. The entire section is founded upon the belief that Pokémon evolved similarly to how life in the real world evolved; there is a distinct possibility that this could be completely false, but until it is proven so, the Taxonomy section can help discern evolutionary relationships between species.
To start, rather the traditional domains of life, the Pokémon world divides species into "Natura" and "Anatura," containing organic and inorganic life. Note that the latter does not include artificial Pokémon or Pokémon whose origins are unknown; such Pokémon are in fact not classified at all due to lack of information. Since inorganic Pokémon may not even evolve like organic ones do, Anatura can be seen more as a way to classify similar Pokémon than as a way to discern evolutionary relationships (ie: the "family" Petridae).
Natura has five kingdoms; three are the nearly the same as in our world, containing the Pokémon equivalents of animals (Pokémon), plants, and fungi. Since real plants and fungi do exist in the Pokémon world, however, the kingdoms of plant-like and fungi-like Pokeémon are called "Plantoidae" and "Fungoidae," respectively. Animalia becomes "Pokémonia" for obvious reasons. The unused domains of life from the real world are also demoted to kingdoms. Protista remains unchanged, while Bacteria and Archaea are combined into one grouping. Anatura only has two kingdoms, the inorganic but physical "Mineralia" and the seemingly-spectral "Spectrae."
From then on, the rankings proceed as usual: phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The real-world basises for the Pokémon are used as far down as possible, with only the species epithet (second word of a name in binomial nomenclature) being changed if a Pokémon can be paralleled with a real world species. Thus, Feraligatr, who is clearly an alligator, becomes "Alligator mordetis;" no such animal exists in the real world, but the genus Alligator does.
If the exact species cannot be identified but the Pokémon clearly exemplifies a particular grouping of animal, the type genus will be used. This refers to the genus that gives the grouping its name; for instance, Sawsbuck is clearly a deer, but the exact species of deer is up to debate. It is certainly in the family Cervinae, so the type genus is "Cervini," giving us "Cervini vernum."
When a Pokémon is so drastically different from real organisms that a clear basis cannot be found, a new grouping may be created. How far up it diverges depends on how different the Pokémon is. Masquerain, for instance, may be a moth, but it is quite the odd-looking one. It thus has its own family, "Oculoptera," meaning "eye-winged."
Finally, a cross ("+") next to a name indicates that the species has gone extinct. Naturally, this strictly appears next to all known fossil Pokémon, which are extinct in the wild.
For the organic species, the taxonomic rankings can illustrate which species Pokémon scientists believe are the most closely related. They provide the basis for many research notes entries, which delve into how a particular species may have diverged to adapt to specific environmental conditions.
Building upon the confirmation that Pokémon do have scientific names, I have constructed taxonomical rankings for them as well. The entire section is founded upon the belief that Pokémon evolved similarly to how life in the real world evolved; there is a distinct possibility that this could be completely false, but until it is proven so, the Taxonomy section can help discern evolutionary relationships between species.
To start, rather the traditional domains of life, the Pokémon world divides species into "Natura" and "Anatura," containing organic and inorganic life. Note that the latter does not include artificial Pokémon or Pokémon whose origins are unknown; such Pokémon are in fact not classified at all due to lack of information. Since inorganic Pokémon may not even evolve like organic ones do, Anatura can be seen more as a way to classify similar Pokémon than as a way to discern evolutionary relationships (ie: the "family" Petridae).
Natura has five kingdoms; three are the nearly the same as in our world, containing the Pokémon equivalents of animals (Pokémon), plants, and fungi. Since real plants and fungi do exist in the Pokémon world, however, the kingdoms of plant-like and fungi-like Pokeémon are called "Plantoidae" and "Fungoidae," respectively. Animalia becomes "Pokémonia" for obvious reasons. The unused domains of life from the real world are also demoted to kingdoms. Protista remains unchanged, while Bacteria and Archaea are combined into one grouping. Anatura only has two kingdoms, the inorganic but physical "Mineralia" and the seemingly-spectral "Spectrae."
From then on, the rankings proceed as usual: phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. The real-world basises for the Pokémon are used as far down as possible, with only the species epithet (second word of a name in binomial nomenclature) being changed if a Pokémon can be paralleled with a real world species. Thus, Feraligatr, who is clearly an alligator, becomes "Alligator mordetis;" no such animal exists in the real world, but the genus Alligator does.
If the exact species cannot be identified but the Pokémon clearly exemplifies a particular grouping of animal, the type genus will be used. This refers to the genus that gives the grouping its name; for instance, Sawsbuck is clearly a deer, but the exact species of deer is up to debate. It is certainly in the family Cervinae, so the type genus is "Cervini," giving us "Cervini vernum."
When a Pokémon is so drastically different from real organisms that a clear basis cannot be found, a new grouping may be created. How far up it diverges depends on how different the Pokémon is. Masquerain, for instance, may be a moth, but it is quite the odd-looking one. It thus has its own family, "Oculoptera," meaning "eye-winged."
Finally, a cross ("+") next to a name indicates that the species has gone extinct. Naturally, this strictly appears next to all known fossil Pokémon, which are extinct in the wild.
For the organic species, the taxonomic rankings can illustrate which species Pokémon scientists believe are the most closely related. They provide the basis for many research notes entries, which delve into how a particular species may have diverged to adapt to specific environmental conditions.