Question

Is a key helpful in identification and classification of an organisms?

Answer 1

Yes.

Key is a taxonomical aid that helps in the identification of plant and animal species. These keys are based on similarities and dissimilarities in characters, generally in a pair called a couplet.

Each statement in a taxonomic key is referred to as a lead. For categorizing each taxonomic rank, such as family, genus, species, etc., different keys are used. It is also useful in the identification of unknown organisms.

Keys are of two types- indented and bracketed keys. Indented key provides a sequence of choices between two or more statements while in bracketed key, a pair of contrasting characters are used.