Taxonomy
What is taxonomy? Taxonomy is the grouping and naming of organisms Biologists who study this are called taxonomists
How did it start? People wanted to organize their world so they began grouping, or classifying everything they saw.
Classification Classification is the grouping things based upon their similarities. 4
How would you sort (classify) silverware into groups?
Why classify living things? To help us organize all the species of living things we discover...
A dog by any other name. Canis familiaris
To give every species a name based on a standard method so scientists from different countries can talk about the same animal without confusion
How many living things (species) do you think are there on Earth? Scientist have identified over 2 million but... Scientist project that there are more likely 10 million species on Earth!!!! (We just have not found them all yet.)
Imagine a room filled with every person in the state of NY. There may be some people from Nassau County There may be some people from your town There may be some people that live on your street. You will be the only one that lives in your house.
There may be some people from Nassau County There may be some people from your town There may be some people that live on your street. You will be the only one that lives in your house. 1 st Street #123 New York Nassau Plainview The most general group you belong to is the state. The most specific group you belong to is the house. The more levels you share with others, the more you have in common.
The Seven Level System Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species King Phillip Called Oprah For Good Spices
Levels of Classification K P C O F G S
How does it work? There are 6 broad kingdoms Every living thing that we know of fits into one of the six kingdoms Each level gets more specific as fewer organisms fit into any one group
Kingdoms Any grouping of organisms into a kingdom is based on several factors: Presence of a nucleus Unicellular or multi-cellular How organisms get their food.
The 6 Kingdoms Archaebacteria Eubacteria Protists Fungi Plants Animals
Each living species can only belong to one Kingdom. Now, within each Kingdom, species are further subdivided other categories. For each Kingdom, there are 6 levels of further classifications called TAXA. The Six Taxa from Largest Taxa to Smallest 1. Phylum 2. Class 3. Order 4. Family 5. Genus 6. Species 18
Organisms are grouped by shared characteristics Ursus maritimus
Six Taxa of all Kingdoms Phylum: This group is the largest of the 6 taxa. Chordata = have a backbone 20
The Class is the second largest of the Taxa after Phylum. Polar bears, black bears, pandas, foxes and squirrels all are in the Class Mammals.. Class: A class is a group of similar Orders. 21
For example polar bears and black bears belong to the same Order called Carnivora. These animals are meat eaters. Orders are smaller than classes. The organisms are more similar to one another. 22
Family: is a group of similar genera. For example: The bear, polar bears, black bears, and pandas all are part of the Family Ursidae. This is the third smallest of the taxa. 23
Genus is a group of similar species. This is the second smallest of the taxa. For example grizzly bears belong to the Genus Ursus. 24
Species, a group of organisms in a population that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. This is the smallest and most specific of the taxa. Only one kind of organism is found in a species. Polar bears belong to the species maritimus. Ursus maritimus 25
Who is Carolus Linnaeus? Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist Developed a 7-level (taxa) classification system based on similarities between organisms
Binomial Nomenclature Linnaeus devised a system of naming organisms. Linnaeus placed organisms in groups based on their observable features.
Binomial Nomenclature Bi means two Nomen means name A binomial nomenclature is a classification system using two names to identify an organism
An animal is known by two names Canis lupus is the scientific name for a gray wolf. This system uses a binomial nomenclature
Genus Other animals in the Canis group include dogs and coyotes The genus name is always Capitalized
Species... Only grey wolves are known as Canis lupus. The species name is always lowercase
Canis lupus
Canis familiaris Canis lupus
Quick Review What are the seven taxa or levels? Who designed the system? What taxa are organisms named with?
Levels of Classification Organisms are grouped by their shared characteristics. Species Genus Family Order Class Phylum Kingdom