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Naming nature, putting life in order

Do you like to group music into playlists, or arrange your books by author?

This urge to organise the world around us based on shared characteristics is at the heart of taxonomy, says curator Jon Ablett.

Learn more about this process of naming, describing and classifying the natural world. Discover how it is crucial to our understanding of how life has evolved as well as a wide range of applications, from conservation to disease prevention.