TAXONOMY

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Thispresentationaimstoteachyouabouttaxonomy.

Thispresentationhasthefollowingstructure:

Slide1- WhatisTaxonomy?

Slide2- FeaturesofTaxonomy

Slide3- TaxonomicClassification

Slide4- NamingSpecies

Slide5 - BinomialNomenclature

Slide6- CarlLinnaeus

Slide7- AustralianCurriculumMapping

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WhatisTaxonomy?

Taxonomyisthescienceofidentifying,naming,describingandclassifying

differentorganisms.Taxonomyincludesallorganisms,bothlivingand

extinct,andclassifiesthemintodistinctgroups,or,‘categories’.

Taxonomyprovidesabasicunderstandingofthecomponentsof

biodiversitywhichisvitalinensuringeffectivedecision-makingabout

conservationandsustainability.

TheSwedishbotanist,physicianandzoologist, CarlLinnaeus isregardedas

thefatherofmoderntaxonomy.Hedevelopedasystemknown

as Linnaeantaxonomywhichsystematisedthecategorisationandnaming

oforganisms.

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FeaturesofTaxonomy

Linnaeus'staxonomysystemhastwomainfeaturesthatcontributetoits

easeofuseinnamingandgroupingorganisms.Thefirstistheuseof

binomialnomenclature,whichistheformalsystemofnamingspecies.

ThesecondfeatureofLinnaeus'staxonomysystemistheorderingof

speciesintobroadcategories.

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TaxonomicClassification

Ahierarchicalsystemisusedtoclassifyorganismstothespecies

level. Organismsaregroupedtogetherinto taxa (singular:taxon)and

groupsaregivena taxonomicrankbasedonsimilaritiesanpresumed

evolutionaryrelationships.Thereareeightdistincttaxonomiccategories:

Domain,Kingdom,Phylum,Class,Order,Family,GenusandSpecies.

Taxonomistsclassifyorganismsinawaythatreflectstheirbiological

ancestry.Becausetheancestralrelationshipsarecomplex,thetaxonomic

schemesarealsocomplexandoftenthesubjectofrevision.Thebroadest

classificationsarebydomainandkingdom;themostspecificclassification

isbygenusandspecies.

Forexample,theanimalsintheKingdomAnimaliaaresplitintomultiple

phyla(pluralofphylum).TheanimalsinthephylumChordataaresplitinto

multipleclassessuchasmammals,reptilesandamphibians.Thebroadest

categorysplitsallorganismsintothreegroupscalledDomains.Thethree

DomainsoflifeareBacteria,ArchaeaandEukaryota.

Foralongtime,alllifewasseparatedintofiveorsixkingdoms.These

includedkingdomssuchasanimals,plants,fungi,protists,archaeaand

bacteria.

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TAXONOMY

NamingSpecies

Binomialnomenclatureisaformalsystemofnamingspecies.Theformal

introductionofthissystemiscreditedtoCarlLinnaeus’workin1753.

However,hewasnotthefirsttousebinomialnomenclature,butsimply,

thefirsttouseitconsistently.

Binomialnomenclature giveseachspeciesanamethatiscomposedof

twoparts,bothofwhichuse Latingrammaticalforms(althoughtheycan

bebasedonwordsfromotherlanguages).

Whenidentifyinganorganism,familiarnames— likehuman,fruitfly,or

mapletree— aremostlikelythenamesyouuse.Scientistsavoidusing

commonnamesbecausetheyareoftennotspecifictoaparticular

species.Forinstance,thebluecrabisonlyoneofmanyspeciesofcrab

thatcanbedescribedasblue.Thus,eachtypeoforganismhasa

scientificname— humansarecalled Homosapiens,forexample.

Inbinomialnomenclature,thefirstpartofthenameidentifies

the genus towhichthespeciesbelongs;thesecondpartidentifiesthe

specieswithinthegenus.Forexample,humansbelongtothe

genus Homo andwithinthisgenustothespecies Homosapiens.

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BinomialNomenclature

Thebinomialnomenclaturesystemallowsforacommonlanguagewith

whichbiologistscanbothclassifyandcompareorganisms.Italsoprovides

abasisforbiologiststocommunicatetheirfindingswithotherscientists.A

keyaspectoftaxonomyistheabilitytocharacterizeeachlevelof

descriptionwithunifyingfeatures,thusrelayinginformationaboutthe

organism(s).Forexample,for Homosapiens,theclassificationwouldbreak

downasfollows:

TAXONOMY

Classification level Name Characterized by:

Domain Eukarya Nucleus, organelles

Kingdom AnimaliaIngests food, multicellular, no

cell wall

Phylum Chordata Spinal cord

Subphylum Vertebrata Segmented backbone

Superclass Tetrapoda Four limbs

Class Mammalia Nurse offspring

Subclass Theria Live birth

Order Primates High level of intelligence

Family Hominidae Walk upright

Genus Homo Human

Species H. sapiens Modern human

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CarlLinnaeus

CarlLinnaeus(1707-1778)wasaSwedishbotanist,physicianandzoologist

whousheredinaneweraoftaxonomy.Hissystemfornaming,ranking,

andclassifyingorganisms– thoughmodifiedovertheyears- isstillwidely

usedtodayandhasremainedthestandardguidingliteratureforover200

years.

Hisworkshavebeenstudiedbyevery

generationofnaturalists,

including ErasmusDarwin and

CharlesDarwin.

Linnaeushasprovidedthebasisofa

universallyacceptedclassification

systemthathasvastlyshaped

andexpandedourunderstanding

ofthenaturalworld.

Hewasknightedin1755underhis

Swedishname,CarlvonLinné.

TAXONOMY

Photocredit:PerKrafft theElder

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AustralianCurriculumMapping

GRADE6SCIENCE(ACSSU094):Thegrowthandsurvivaloflivingthingsare

affectedbythephysicalconditionsoftheirenvironment.

YEAR7SCIENCE(ACSSU112):Interactionsbetweenorganisms,includingthe

effectsofhumanactivitiescanberepresentedbyfoodchainsandfoodwebs.

YEAR7– 10LANGUAGES(ACLFWC048):Investigate,analyseandsynthesise

informationobtainedfromarangeofsourcesontopicsandissuesrelatedto

theirCountry/Placeandcommunity[Keyconcepts:change,socialand

environmentalissues,communityinitiatives/projects,healthandwell-being;

Keyprocesses:researching,investigating,interviewing,comparing,

summarising].

YEAR9SCIENCE(ACSSU176):Ecosystemsconsistofcommunitiesof

interdependentorganismsandabioticcomponentsof

the environment; matter andenergyflowthroughthesesystems.

YEAR9HISTORY(ACDSEH019):Theemergenceandnatureofkeyideasinthe

period,withaparticularfocusonONEofthefollowing:capitalism,socialism,

egalitarianism, nationalism, imperialism,Darwinism,Chartism.

SUSTAINABILITY(01.1):Thebiosphereisadynamicsystemprovidingconditions

thatsustainlifeonEarth.

TAXONOMY

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FORMOREINFORMATION,pleasevisitwww.mygreenworld.org oremail

info@mygreenworld.org togetintouchwithus.

Downloadourmobilegameapp,WorldoftheWild,andseehowyoucan

participateinvirtualwildlifeconservation.

TAXONOMY