Classification
How to sort life?
Taxonomy
The science of classifying organisms.
▪Shows relationships between organisms
▪Current system credited to Carl Linnaeus
▪Based on physical and structural features
▪More features in common = closer
relationship
Levels of Classification
▪Kingdom
▪Phylum
▪Class
▪Order
▪Family
▪Genus
▪Species
See Table 1
pg. 328
Taxa
“Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried
Green Spinach”
http://users.frii.com/geomanda/mnemonics/biology.html
“King Paul Called Out For Gus and Sam”
http://www.back2college.com/memorize.htm
All living things are divided into
6 kingdoms. Each of those
kingdoms is then divided into
phylums, each phylum is
divided into classes, etc.
GROUP
NAME
HUMAN
KINGDOM
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
PHYLUM
Chordate
Chordate
Chordate
Chordate
Arthropoda
CLASS
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
ORDER
Primates
Primates
Carnivora
Carnivora
FAMILY
Hominidae
Pongidae
Felidae
Felidae
GENUS
Homo
Pan
Felis
Felis
SPECIES
sapiens
troglodytes
domestica
CHIMPANZEE HOUSE CAT
LION
Pan troglodytesFelis domestica
Scientific Homo sapiens
Name
HOUSEFLY
Insect
Diptera
Muscidae
Musca
domestica
leo
Felis leo
Musca domestica
Kingdoms
What’s wrong with this picture?
Kingdoms
▪Originally only 2 (Plant and Animal)
▪Single-celled plants and animals discovered =
Protists
▪Some “protists” lacked a nucleus = Monera
▪Some plants were too unique = Fungi
▪Some Monera were too unique = Archaea
Kingdoms
▪In order of complexity
▸Reproduction - change from asexual to sexual
▸Cell structure - increase from single celled to
multicelled
▸Lifestyle - plant-like vs. animal like (autotroph vs.
heterotroph, cell wall vs none), aquatic vs. terrestrial
Phylogeny
▪The
evolution of
the kingdoms
▪Simplest
came first
then possibly
“merged” into
more
complex
organisms
Binomial Nomenclature
▪A two part scientific name
▪First part is genus (capitalized)
▪Last part is species (this is kind of
backwards if you compare it to our names!!)
▪Species – look alike and interbreed
▪Common first part demonstrates
relatedness
▸Grizzly bear - Ursus horribilis,
▸Polar bear - Ursus maritimus
▸Koala bear - Phascolarctos cinereus
▸Panda bear - Ailuropoda melanoleuca
Binomial Nomenclature
Match the scientific name to the common name!
▪1) Canis lupis
▪2) Acer saccharum
▪3) Toxicodendron radicans
▪4) Bufo americanus
▪5) Homarus americanus
▪6) Canis familiaris
▪7) Quercus rubra
A) toad
B) poison ivy
C) wolf
D) red oak
E) lobster
F) sugar maple
Dichotomous Key
▪The EASY way to
classify organisms and
determine what an
organism is.
▪Usually dividing a
group into 2 categories
(basically a yes no
question) and then 2
more and so on, based
on a series of
questions.
See pg. 332-333