CLASSIFICATION AND SCIENTIFIC NOMENCLATURE ORDERING THE LIVING WORLD
Dec 18, 2015
CLASSIFICATION AND SCIENTIFIC NOMENCLATURE
ORDERING THE LIVING WORLD
What is classification?
Classification is the grouping of things according to characteristics
The science of classifying organisms is known as taxonomy
Why do Scientists Classify?
Almost 2 million kinds of organisms on Earth
Need to keep organized! (Easier to study!)
Classification= process of grouping things based on their similarities
Early classification systems
Aristotle grouped animals according to the way they moved
Aristotle’s System
Aristotle grouped animals according to the way they moved
For example, all animals that traveled by air were thought to have been related.
That meant that birds, bees, and bats were classified together and thought to be related!
Aristotle’s System
As time passed, more species were discovered & some did not fit easily into Aristotle’s system of classification.
Therefore, it became a great need for his system to be replaced!
Organisms are now classified according to their EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS (HOW THEY HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME)
= phylogenetics
Linnaeus’s System
Carolus Linnaeus, a Swedish Botanist developed a wonderful method of classifying organisms properly.
His system was based upon classifying organisms according to organism's physical and structural similarities.
For example, he might use the similarities in flower parts as a basis for classifying flowering plants.
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Eight classification groups of living things
(Domain)
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
King Phillip Came Over For Grape Soda
Kingdom
6 main kingdoms: (large groupings of living things)
Eubacteria Archaebacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
Phylum
Phylum: is a Taxa or “group” of similar classes.
The kingdom Animalia contains approximately 35 phyla (or divisions)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phylum#Animal_phyla
Class
Class: A class is a group of similar “Orders.”
Order
Order: is a taxon or “group” of similar families.
Family
Family: is a group of similar genera.
Genus
A genus is a group of similar species.
Species
Species is a group of organisms in a population that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
E.g. grizzly bears are
Ursus horribilis
Binomial Nomenclature
Developed by Linnaeus Two-name system Each organism has a genus and a
species name A genus (plural form = genera) consists
of a group of similar species. FIRST NAME
A species, the SECOND NAME, the descriptive word,
Ursus horribilis or Ursus horribilis
Grizzly Bear
Genus- always capitalize first letter Species- always lowercase first letter Underlined or italics
Ursus means__BEAR________ (genus) while the species name is the descriptive word. Horribilis means __HORRIBLE YEAR________ which describes this type of bear, therefore called
Ursus horribilis or Ursus horribilis
Two Names For A Species Latin is the language of scientific names
which is still used today because the language is no longer used in society for conversation. Therefore, it does not change.
many organisms have common names just like you & your friends might have nicknames.
Useful so everyone understands what all other people are talking about- like metrics and measurement.