Taxonomic order

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Taxonomic order (also known as systematic order) is an order for a list of taxa which attempts to reflect the evolutionary relationships within the group in question.

Early biologists used the concept of "age" or "primitiveness" of the groups in question to derive an order of arrangement, with "older" or more "primitive" groups being listed first and more recent or "advanced" ones last. A modern understanding of evolutionary biology has brought about a more robust framework for the taxonomic ordering of lists. A list is now seen as a one-dimensional representation of a phylogenetic tree.