Who published Systema Naturae in 1735 classifying the three kingdoms of nature and outlining the sexual system for the classification of plants?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is Option 4 i.e. Carolus Linnaeus.
Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) published Systema Naturae in 1735, which introduced a systematic classification of the three kingdoms of nature:
- Animalia (Animals)
- Vegetabilia (Plants)
- Mineralia (Minerals)
In this work, Linnaeus also introduced the sexual system for classifying plants based on their reproductive organs (stamens and pistils). This system became the foundation of modern taxonomy and the binomial nomenclature (two-part scientific naming system).
Why not the other options?
- Carl Woese – Known for proposing the three-domain system (Bacteria, Archaea, Eukarya) in 1977, not involved in the 18th-century classification.
- Robert Whittaker – Introduced the five-kingdom classification (Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia) in 1969, much later than Linnaeus.
- Ernst Haeckel – Coined the term ecology and proposed the three-kingdom system (Animalia, Plantae, Protista) in 1866, but he did not publish Systema Naturae.