TAXONOMY

In biology…..

is very important!

CLASSIFICATION

Classification is the arrangement of objects, ideas, or information into groups, the members of which have one or more characteristics in common.

Classification makes things easier to find, identify, and study.

WHAT IS TAXONOMY? Taxonomy is the branch of biology concerned with 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.

Things that swim Things that fly Things that crawl Things that walk on four legs

Things that chew their food

Things that are toxic

WHY CLASSIFY? To help us study the earth

To help us organize all the species we discover

Prevents misnomers

WHY SHOULD WE NAME EACH ORGANISM?

To give every species a name based on a standard method

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CONFUSION IN USING DIFFERENT LANGUAGES FOR NAMES

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LATIN NAMES ARE UNDERSTOOD BY ALL TAXONOMISTS

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EARLY TAXONOMIST

•2000 years ago, Aristotle was the first taxonomist•Aristotle divided organisms into plants & animals•He subdivided them by their habitat - land, sea, or air dwellers

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Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist

Developed a 7-level (taxa) classification system based on similarities between organisms

THE SEVEN LEVEL SYSTEM Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

King Philip Called Oprah For Good Spices

HOW DOES IT WORK?There are 6 broad kingdoms

Every living thing that we know of fits into one of the six kingdoms

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HIERARCHY-TAXONOMIC GROUPS

Kingdom Phylum (Division – used for

plants)

Class Order Family

Genus Species

Most Specific

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Broadest