Do the terms “taxon” and “category” have the same meaning?

Correct answer: No; a category is a rank or level, whereas a taxon is the actual group of organisms placed at that level

The correct answer is A. A category is an abstract rank in the taxonomic hierarchy, such as species, genus, family, order, or class. A taxon is a concrete group of organisms assigned to one of those ranks. For example, “genus” is a category, while *Homo* is a taxon placed in the genus category. Similarly, “family” is a category, while Hominidae is a taxon placed in that category. Option B is wrong because a rank and the biological group occupying that rank are different ideas. Option C is wrong because taxon is used for groups of organisms in both plant and animal classification, as well as other organisms. Option D is wrong for the same reason: categories are not restricted to animals. Memory cue: “category is the shelf; taxon is the group of books on that shelf.”