Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| the offspring of a zebra and a donkey. |
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taxon tax·on (tāk'sŏn')
n. pl. tax·a (tāk'sə)
A taxonomic category or group, such as a phylum, order, family, genus, or species.
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taxon  (tāk'sŏn') Pronunciation Key
Plural taxa A taxonomic category or group, such as a phylum, order, family, genus, or species. |
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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taxon
any unit used in the science of biological classification, or taxonomy. Taxa are arranged in a hierarchy from kingdom to subspecies, a given taxon ordinarily including several taxa of lower rank. In the classification of protists, plants, and animals, certain taxonomic categories are universally recognized; in descending order, these are kingdom, phylum (in plants, division), class, order, family, genus, species, and subspecies, or race. Rules for naming the various taxa are the province of biological nomenclature (q.v.).
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