Classification is the way we communicate about biological diversity
the problem with common names
➡
no rules for usage
Example: Red Cedar
Eastern US
Eastern Red Cedar
Western US
Western Red Cedar
Europe
Red Cedar
Example: Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum L.
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carol von Linne
Binomial nomenclature
Each species has a two word Latin
name consisting of its genus and
species names. These words are
always underlined or italicized
when written.
Example: Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum L.
Example: Red Cedar
Eastern US
Eastern Red Cedar
Western US
Western Red Cedar
Europe
Red Cedar
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carolus Linneaus
Hierarchical system - groups nested within groups
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carolus Linneaus
Tomato
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum (Division) Magnoliophyta
Class Magnoliopsida
Order Solanales
Family Solanaceae
Genus Solanum
Species Solanum lycopersicum L.
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carolus Linneaus
Human
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum (Division) Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Primates
Family Hominidae
Genus Homo
Species Homo sapiens
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carolus Linneaus
Nested hierarchical levels
Kingdom
(smaller groups nested in larger groups)
Phylum
1) flexibility to expand our
Class
classification system without
Order
starting from scratch
Family
2) ability to organize large
Genus
Species
numbers of things
Swedish botanist
Species Plantarum (1753)
Carolus Linneaus
Sexual System
Organized plants into 24 classes
based on the presence or absence
and number of sexual parts as the
basis for his classification
"Nine men in the same bride's
chamber, with one woman"
“The affinities of all the beings of the same class
have sometimes been represented by a great tree.
I believe this simile largely speaks the truth...The green and
budding twigs may represent existing species; and those
produced during former years may represent the long
succession of extinct species...As buds give rise by growth to
fresh buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on all
sides many a feebler branch, so by generations I believe it has
been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with its dead and
broken branches the crust of the earth, and covers the surface
with ever-branching and beautiful ramifications.” (Darwin, 1859)
Ernst Haeckel (1866)