Family (biology)

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Not to be confused with Gene family or Protein family.

The hierarchy of biological classification's eight major taxonomic ranks. An order contains one or more families.
Intermediate minor rankings are not shown.

Family (Latin: familia, plural familiae) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic
ranks in Linnaean taxonomy; it is classified between order and genus. A family may be
divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and
genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often
used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae,
but that family is commonly referred to as being the "walnut family".
What belongs to a family—or if a described family should be recognized at all—are
proposed and determined by practicing taxonomists. There are no hard rules for
describing or recognizing a family. Taxonomists often take different positions about
descriptions, and there may be no broad consensus across the scientific community for
some time. The publishing of new data and opinions often enables adjustments and
consensus.

Contents

• 1Nomenclature
 • 2History
• 3Uses
• 4See also
• 5References
• 6Bibliography

Nomenclature[edit]
The naming of families is codified by various international bodies using the following
suffixes:

• In fungal, algal, and botanical nomenclature, the family names of plants,

fungi, and algae end with the suffix "-aceae", with the exception of a small
number of historic but widely used names
including Compositae and Gramineae.[1][2]
• In zoological nomenclature, the family names of animals end with the suffix "-
idae".[3]