Taxon
A taxon (plural: taxa) is a formally recognized unit of biological classification used across the Continuum Universes. In Continuum science, a taxon may describe organisms that share ancestry, structure, biosignature, behavior, or coherent patterning—even when those organisms are not carbon-based or do not fit traditional cellular biology.
The Continuum Biological Registry (CBR) defines, maintains, and revises official taxa, and assigns a Universal Registry Code to stabilize references across worlds, languages, and timeline variations.
Definition
In simple terms: a taxon is a named “bucket” that groups lifeforms by meaningful biological similarity.
In the Continuum, “similarity” can mean different things depending on the domain:
- In Carbonia, similarity may be based on anatomy, reproduction, genetics, and ecological role.
- In Luxiva, similarity may be based on coherence stability, resonance patterns, feeding mode (e.g., radiotrophy vs. photophagy), and reproduction through harmonic processes.
Because not all universes share the same physics, a taxon is treated as a scientific model—useful, revisable, and never sacred.
Taxonomic ranks
The CBR uses rank systems that resemble classical biology where appropriate, but allows rank substitutions when needed.
Common ranks (where applicable) include:
- Domain (or substrate-domain equivalent)
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
Some domains use parallel or custom ranks when “species” boundaries are fuzzy (e.g., swarm entities, modular organisms, or beings that reproduce by pattern-copying).
Cross-domain taxonomy
Continuum taxonomy exists because “Earth taxonomy everywhere” breaks immediately in the presence of non-carbon life.
Examples:
- Animalia is a Carbonian kingdom of cellular, chemical organisms.
- Photona is a Luxivan kingdom filling the analogous ecological niche (motile consumers) but built from coherent radiant structures rather than cells.
- Radiophyta is a Luxivan producer-analog comparable in role to Plantae but powered by radiance and aether flux rather than chemistry alone.
The CBR attempts to keep analogies useful without pretending the systems are identical.
Universal Registry Codes
Most official taxon records include a Universal Registry Code (URC). These codes exist to prevent ambiguity when:
- the same name evolves in multiple worlds,
- translations collide,
- or a timeline revision causes older names to resurface.
URC formats vary, but commonly encode the domain and rank (for example, Luxiva Kingdom entries often use a pattern like LX-K-…).
How taxon pages are written
On Continuum wikis and registries, a taxon page typically contains:
- an infobox listing classification and registry fields
- a lead defining the taxon’s role and distinguishing traits
- sections covering structure, reproduction, ecology, and known morphotypes
- crosslinks to related taxa and domains
Many pages use the template {{Taxon}} to standardize presentation and fields across the archive.