Classification Systems

I. Taxonomy – branch of biology that deals with classifying and naming living things

A. Aristotle – Ancient Greek Philosopher

1. Lived 2,000 years ago2. Grouped plants & animals by

structural similarities only

B. Carolus Linnaeus – founder of modern taxonomy (mid 1750’s)1. Created the taxonomic categories that go from general to very

specific:

KingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusspecies

How can you remember?

K ingP hillipC ameO verF orG oodS paghetti

General

specific

Isolated to aSpecific organism

Taxonomic categories of a plant

(Uses “division” instead of phylum)

Five Kingdom system

Linnaeus developed a 5 Kingdom system. He and other scientists recognized that organisms varied greatly ( not just Plant or Animal)

What are the five Kingdoms of living things in order of simple to complex?

Monera

Bacteria and blue-green algae all prokaryotic (no nucleus)

Protista

Protizoans, mostly microscopic mostly unicellular, some

multicellular all eukaryotic (complex cells)

Fungi Mostly multicellular, absorb

nutrients Fungus, mold, mushrooms, yeast.

Plantae

plants, photosynthetic, cells with a wall of cellulose

Animalia

Animals as simple as a sponge, multicelluar, complex life cycles, tissue layers

Some scientists recently divided the Monera Kingdom into two Kingdoms:

Eubacteria (complex, recent) Archiobacteria (ancient, few

today)

II. Naming organismsA. Nomenclature – system for

naming thingsB. Binomial nomenclature – 2

word naming system to create scientific names

C. Scientific names are written in a specific way:

1. Genus species2. genus = noun species = adjective - describes

noun

3. The first letter of the genus name is always capitalized and the species name is written in all lowercase

4. The entire scientific name is always underlined or italicized

5. Felis domesticus – means domesticated, or house, cat

6. Latin is the universal language for science – used in all countries around the world

7. Scientific names are better to use than common names because common names change in each region

8. Armadillidium vulgare – can also be known as pill bug, sow bug, roly poly bug, potato bug, etc…

• Examples• Common name: Domestic dog

Scientific name: Canis domesticus

Common name: Timber Wolf

Scientific name: Canis lupus

Classifcation of Modern HumansHomo sapiens

Kingdom – AnimaliaPhylum - ChordataClass – MammaliaOrder – PrimatesFamily – HominidaeGenus – HomoSpecies - sapiens

III. Taxonomists use specific information to help them classify organisms.

A. Structural information – physical structure and anatomy

B. Biochemical – DNA, RNA, and protein information (genetics)

C. Cytological – similarities in cell structure

D. Embryological – patterns of embryo development

E. Behavioral – how each different species acts1. Example: crickets can be distinguished by their mating calls

ex. Cricket chirp rate indicates temperature

F. Fossil – preserved evidence provides relationships between extinct and modern species.

Classification practice (pictures or shapes)

• Spread out all items so you can see all

• Choose a “Kingdom” for them.• Choose at least 2 Phyla• Subdivide the phyla in to classes• Subdivide classes into orders…. Go

as far as you can.

IV Theory of evolutionA. New species arise, or evolve,

over long periods of time from pre-existing species1. Phylogeny – evolutionary

history of a species2. Phylogenetic trees – show

relationships between organisms, help classify new

organisms

Biological Key

Tools to help identify organisms

A type of key used that has pairs ofopposing statements going form

generalto specific is called a Dichotomous

Key.

Wacky People Key

1a Two feet 2

1b Some other number of feet

3

2a Does not look at all human

4

2b Looks a lot like a human

5

3a One leg 6

3b Three or four legs 7

4a Fly-like Mosk Cara

4b Not fly-like 8

5a Seems to be a girl Rita Nita5b Not a girl 9

6a Leg is curled , two feet Ru-ela.Brella 6b Leg is straight, one foot Giggles

7a Three legs 107b Four legs 11

8a Has webbed feet Hex Oculate 8b Clawed feet 12

9a Curly hair, no toes Lugio Wirum9b Wiggly looking mouth, three toes on feet C. Nile

10a Very long nose, open mouth Elle E. Funk10b Some other appearance 13

11a Has duck bill, two pinchers Tri D. Duckt11b No arms or pinchers 14

12a Has ears, tail, and beak Grif Leon12b Four eyes on stalks Eggur Ondy

13a One eye, webbed feet Cue Kide13b Four stalked eyes, four pinchers Quadrumenox

14a Three toed feet, nose like a flower Tunia petalos14b Spider-like, has spots Patterned mulywumpus