Talk:Carl Linnaeus

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This article is written in British English, which has its own spelling conventions (colour, travelled, centre, defence, artefact, analyse) and some terms may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.

Carl Linnaeus has been listed as one of the Natural sciences good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.

Article milestones
Date	Process	Result
August 16, 2006	Good article reassessment	Delisted
September 27, 2006	Good article nominee	Not listed
August 15, 2011	Good article nominee	Not listed
October 13, 2011	Good article nominee	Listed
January 17, 2026	Good article reassessment	Kept
Facts from this article were featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the "On this day..." column on May 23, 2007, May 1, 2011, May 1, 2015, January 10, 2018, January 10, 2021, and January 10, 2026.
Current status: Good article

Biology Top‑importance

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This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Caitlin Dewey (10 June 2014). "The most influential person on Wikipedia is someone you've probably never heard of". Washington Post. The most influential historical figure on Wikipedia, per a recent paper by researchers at several European universities, is none other than the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus — a.k.a., the guy who invented the system we use to classify plants and animals.

Section sizes

Section size for Carl Linnaeus (46 sections)
Section name	Byte count		Prose size (words)
Section name	Header	Total	Header	Total
(Top)	6,772	6,772	273	273
Early life	16	6,407	0	605
Childhood	2,692	2,692	291	291
Early education	3,699	3,699	314	314
University studies	24	4,483	0	543
Lund	1,278	1,278	130	130
Uppsala	3,181	3,181	413	413
Expedition to Lapland	4,626	4,626	501	501
Years in the Dutch Republic (1735–38)	800	12,507	76	1,232
Doctorate	3,827	3,827	381	381
Publishing of Systema Naturae	1,430	1,430	178	178
George Clifford, Philip Miller, and Johann Jacob Dillenius	6,450	6,450	597	597
Return to Sweden	2,626	18,395	249	1,619
Öland and Gotland	1,466	1,466	178	178
Västergötland	1,131	1,131	138	138
Scania	2,041	2,041	166	166
Rector of Uppsala University	1,055	1,055	127	127
Philosophia Botanica	362	362	43	43
Nutrix Noverca	2,198	2,198	172	172
Species Plantarum	2,350	2,350	93	93
Ennoblement	5,166	5,166	453	453
Final years	3,736	3,736	334	334
Apostles	1,728	4,694	184	552
Early expeditions	1,156	1,156	150	150
Cook expeditions and Japan	1,810	1,810	218	218
Major publications	61	3,893	0	340
Systema Naturae	1,893	1,893	178	178
Species Plantarum	522	1,939	34	162
Genera Plantarum	716	716	55	55
Philosophia Botanica	701	701	73	73
Collections	5,392	5,392	397	397
System of taxonomy	24	17,410	0	970
Linnaean system	3,168	3,168	303	303
Human taxonomy	14,218	14,218	667	667
Influences and economic beliefs	663	663	63	63
Commemoration	1,704	1,704	97	97
Commentary	3,802	3,802	136	136
Standard author abbreviation	60	60	0	0
Selected publications by Linnaeus	4,168	4,168	0	0
See also	196	196	0	0
References	16	10,351	0	0
Notes	50	50	0	0
Citations	30	30	0	0
Sources	10,255	10,255	0	0
Further reading	4,204	4,204	0	0
External links	4,606	4,606	0	0
Total	118,069	118,069	7,662	7,662

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GA Reassessment

Latest comment: 6 months ago4 comments3 people in discussion

Carl Linnaeus

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch article reassessment page • Most recent review

Result: Issues appear to have been resolved. Bgsu98 (Talk) 03:10, 17 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Uncited statements, including entire paragraphs. The "Commentary" section is overly reliant on quotes and should be a summary of various sources instead. Z1720 (talk) 17:45, 15 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

OK, I've tidied up the article, including paraphrasing in the Commentary section. Chiswick Chap (talk) 16:55, 16 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

Keep. Concerns resolved. Z1720 (talk) 21:06, 16 January 2026 (UTC)Reply

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

changing nowadays to modern day

Latest comment: 5 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

"He also corresponded with Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, "the Linnaeus of the Austrian Empire", who was a doctor and a botanist in Idrija, Duchy of Carniola (nowadays Slovenia)." using "nowadays" feels informal although i dont know if it would make sense to edit it to "modern day" to make it more formal FlintDoggo (talk) 19:17, 5 March 2026 (UTC)Reply

Citation for Linnaeus being the type specimen for Homo sapiens?

Latest comment: 2 months ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Intro para. This could use a citation. FWIW Smithsonian https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-sapiens has a page that states that there is no type specimen for Homo sapiens. ~2026-28455-54 (talk) 15:07, 11 May 2026 (UTC)Reply

Semi-protected edit request on 15 June 2026

Latest comment: 1 month ago2 comments2 people in discussion

This edit request has been answered. Set the |answered= parameter to no to reactivate your request.

Cite the following two sources for the last sentence of the introductory/primary section of the article "Linnaeus is designated as the type specimen for the human species, Homo sapiens."

First source with archived hyperlink cites the organization generally accepted as authoritative on defining zoological type specimen; Second source cites the primary historical mention for Linnaeus as type specimen.

1. "Who is the type of Homo sapiens?". International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.

2. Stearn, W. T. (1 March 1959). "The Background of Linnaeus's Contributions to the Nomenclature and Methods of Systematic Biology". Systematic Biology. 8 (1): 4–22. doi:10.2307/sysbio/8.1.4. ISSN 1063-5157. Armchairologist (talk) 00:59, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply

Not done: Per MOS:LEADCITE, citations in the lead are not required if the claim in question is mentioned and cited elsewhere in the article, which is the case here. Umby 🌕🐶 (talk) 05:42, 15 June 2026 (UTC)Reply