Taxonomy, The Science of
Classifying OrganismsBrought To You By
Carolus Linnaeus
• Why Classify? (page 447)• 1. Why do biologists use a classification system to
study the diversity of life?
• 2. The science of classifying organisms and assigning them universally accepted names isknown as
• taxonomy • 3. Is the following sentence true or false? In a
good system of classification, organisms placed into a particular group are less similar to each other than they are to organisms in other groups.
They use a classification system to name and group organisms logically.
• Assigning Scientific Names (page 448)• 4. Why is it confusing to refer to organisms by
common names?
• 5. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about early efforts at naming organisms.
• a. Names were usually in English.• b. Names often described detailed physical
characteristics of a species.• c. Names could be very long.• d. It was difficult to standardize the names.• 6. The two-word naming system developed by
Linnaeus is called Binomial NomenclatureMeans “ two naming system”
Common names vary from country to country. A single species can share moreThan one common name.
Called Moose in the USA Called Elk in Britain
Buzzard in USA
Buzzard in Britain
• 7. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about binomial nomenclature.
• a. The system is no longer in use today.• b. Each species is assigned a two-part scientific
name.• c. The scientific name is always written in italics.• d. The second part of the scientific name is
capitalized.• 8. What is the genus of the grizzly bear, Ursus
arctos? • The genus is “Ursus”.
• Linnaeus System of Classification (pages 449-450)
• 9. A group or level of organization in taxonomy is called a taxonomic category, orTaxon (taxa is plural)
• 10. The largest taxonomic category in Linnaeus’s system of classification is the _________ and the smallest is the _____.
11. What two kingdoms did Linnaeus name? Plantae and Animalia kingdoms
Kingdom Species
. Fill in the name of each missing taxonomic category in the chart below.
12. Fill in the name of each missing taxonomic category in the chart below.
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata - backbones
ClassMammalia – nurse young OrderCarnivora – Shearing molars
FamilyUrsidae - Bears
GenusUrsus –”Typical Bears”SpeciesUrsus arctos
Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk
• Closely related species are grouped in the same genus
Panthera leoPanthera uncia
Panthera pardus Puma concolor Panthera tigris
Acinonyx jubatus
Snow leopard
Cheetah
Leopard Mountain. lion Tiger
Cat Phylogenetic (family) Tree
The rare “Flying Cat”Felifloatis apodis
• Scientific names give descriptive info:1. House fly a) Graptemys geographica
2. Red maple b) Apis melliflora
3. Indian elephant c) Acer rubrum
4. Map turtle d) Musca domestica
5. Honey bee e) Elephas maximus
Reviewing Key Concepts• Short Answer On the lines provided, answer the following
questions.• 1. As biologists classify the diversity of life, what two
main tasks do they carry out?As diversity is studied, scientists name organisms and group them in a logical manner.• 2. On what two languages are scientific names based?• The languages are Latin, or Greek.• 3. According to the system of binomial nomenclature,
how should the scientific name of a species be written?• First letter in Genus name upper case• First letter of species name lower case• Underline name or write in italics
• 4. Which part of the name Puma concolor identifies the genus?
• Puma identifies the genus to which a mountain lion belongs.
• 5. List in order from smallest to largest the seven categories in Linnaeus's system of classification.
• Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom - called taxa (singular – taxon)
Scientific naming review
• The science of giving organisms a two-part scientific name is called
• What two languages are used in scientific naming?
• What is correct way of writing the scientific name “campylorhynchus brunneicalipis”?
Binomial nomenclature
Latin and Greek
• A group of closely related species are a _____
• To what genus do Crotalus atrox, and Crotalus willardi belong?
• Fill in the missing taxa: Domain, Kingdom,_______, Class, _______, _______, Genus,
Species.
genus
Phylum Order Family
• Why can common names be so confusing to scientists?
• What species are more closely related?a) Vulpes rufusb) Lynx rufusc) Vulpes velox
• What descriptive information does the scientific name Carnegiea gigantea provide?
Common names are different in different countries – A single species may have more than one common name.