Science dealing with the classificationof organisms

axonomyT

Biologists use classification to organize living things into groups so that the organisms are easier to study.

These beetles belong to a large insect collection in a natural history museum. They have been classified according to characteristics they share. Observing What characteristics may have been used to group these beetles?

Organisms Classified by:

Structural Similarities Biochemical Similarities Cytological Similarities

Embryological Similarities

Behavioral Similarities Fossil Record

Basic Classification Groups

KingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusSpecies

(most general)

(most specific)

Species Organisms that can mate and produce fertile offspring

Kingdom:   Animalia     Phylum:   Chordata (animals with back bones)        Class:   Mammalia (with hair, females produce milk)          Order:   Primates (apes, monkeys)

Family:   Hominidae (with extinct neanderthal)                   Genus:   Homo (Same)                         Species:   sapiens (Man)

LINNAEAN  CLASSIFICATION  OF  HUMANS

You see, at every step down the classification ladder, the thing that we are is narrowed down. At first we're just animals. Then the phylum grouping separates us from all animals without backbones, such as sponges, insects, and worms. On down the ladder we go until we land at the species, and at that point we know that we're just talking about one kind of animal, and that animal is us.

Five Kingdom System

Animal

Plant

Protista

Monera

Fungi

Animal Kingdom• Multicellular

• Eukaryotes• Heterotrophic

Plant Kingdom• Multicellular• Photosynthetic• Autotrophic

Protista• Unicellular• Eukaryotic Cells

(have membrane bound organelles)

• Examples: paramecium, amoeba, euglena

Monera• Unicellular• Prokaryotic Cells

(no membrane bound organelles)

• Examples: bacteria, blue green algae

Fungi• Most multicellular (except yeast)• Have cell walls, but not chloroplasts

• Absorbs nutrients from environment(heterotrophic)

• Examples: yeast, bread mold, mushrooms

NomenclatureMethod of naming an organism

Binomial System Developed by Carl Linnaeus

Rules• Genus and species name make up scientific name• Names usually in latin

• Genus is capitalized, species lower case• Name is either italicized or underlined separately

Examples:

Felis domesticusFelis leoFelis tigerisCanis lupisCanis familiarisHomo erectusHomo sapien

Dichotomous/Taxonomic Key

Tool used to classify an organism using 2 traits

Create a dichotomous key forthese creatures with your 4 o’clock buddy

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