Folk taxonomy

Folk taxonomies are systems of categorization created by non-scientists to order, to name, and ultimately to help themselves understand the natural world. Folk taxonomies frequently diverge on some points from the systems of classification developed through the scientific study of taxonomy but they also tend to align with scientific classifications on other points: sometimes folk taxonomies lump together many biological species under a single name, sometimes there is one-to-one correspondence, and sometimes folk taxonomies differentiate where scientific taxonomies do not. The process of differentiation between species in folk taxonomies is largely dependent on cultural significance and indigenous knowledge.