Unit 2: Ethnobiological Classification

Aspen leaves (Populus tremuloides). The shape of leaves can be a feature used in distinguishing kinds of plants. © 1993-1995 ColorBytes Images.

One of the foundations of ethnobiology is examining how people understand and classify organisms in their environment. The process of classification is a fundamental cognitive process that people do all of the time in their daily lives. It involves making decisions about what something is, and how it is similar to, different from, or related to, other things. Biologists classify organisms in particular ways. A biologist who specializes in the scientific description and classification of organisms is known as a taxonomist.

Deciding what a thing should be called is a process biologists call nomenclature. Biological science has rules that determine how an organism should be named; the names give various clues as to how biologists classify the organisms. In the informal classification systems, which people create to organize their knowledge about the living things around them, the names also have rules and may give clues as to the underlying system of classification. Naming animals and plants is a fundamental activity in all human cultures and may provide a natural starting point in linguistic and ethnobiological studies.

Objectives

By the end of this unit you should be able to

1. illustrate familiarity with principles of classification, by being able to explain concepts of class, class inclusion, and hierarchical classification.
2. explain the outline of scientific classification and generally accepted models of ethnobiological classification.
3. define and give examples of a “contrast set.”
4. identify theoretical issues of ethnobiological classification and explain the difference between “intellectualist” and “utilitarian” analyses of ethnobiological classification.