Abstract
The diversity of living organisms, the abundance of forms, colours and phenotypes, is one of the most impressive aspects of our world. Since ancient times, science has concerned itself with the ordering and classification of this diversity. At first, only those structures and processes which were recognizable without any special apparatus could be compared; the invention of the light microscope and the electron microscope introduced new dimensions and new opportunities for comparison. Finally, progress to the molecular level became possible with the development of methods of biochemical analysis. Different comparative biological disciplines arose, each with particular goals and methods. The oldest, taxonomy, is concerned with the classification of species; this was originated by Aristotle, and is represented most importantly by the work of Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778).
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Urich, K. (1994). The Subject Matter and Methods of Comparative Biochemistry. In: Comparative Animal Biochemistry. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06303-3_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-06303-3_1
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