Taxonomy

What is taxonomy?

Taxonomy is the grouping and naming of organisms

Biologists who study this are called taxonomists

How did it start?

People wanted to organizetheir world so they began grouping, or classifyingeverything they saw.

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Classification

Classification is the grouping

things based upon their similarities.

How would you sort (classify)

silverware into groups?

Why classify living things?

To help us organize all the species of living things we discover . . .

A dog by any other name….

Canis familiaris

To give every species a name based on a standard methodso scientists from different countries can talk about the same animal without confusion

How many living things

(species) do you think are there

on Earth?

Scientist have identified over 2 million

but...

Scientist project that there are more likely

10 million species on Earth!!!!

(We just have not found them all yet.)

Imagine a room filled with every person in the

state of NY.

There may be some people from Nassau County

There may be some people from your town

There may be some people that live on your street.

You will be the only one that lives in your house.

#123

1st Street

Plainview

New York

Nassau

There may be some people from Nassau County

There may be some people from your town

There may be some people that live on your street.

You will be the only one that lives in your house.

The most general

group you belong to is the state.

The most specific group you belong to is

the house.

The more levels you share with others,

the more you have in

common.

The Seven Level System

KingdomPhylumClassOrderFamilyGenusSpecies

KingPhillipCalledOprahForGoodSpices

Levels of Classification

K __________

P __________

C __________

O __________

F __________

G __________

S __________

How does it work?

There are 6 broad kingdomsEvery living thing that we know of fits into one of the six kingdomsEach level gets more specific as fewer organisms fit into any one group

Kingdoms

Any grouping of organisms into a kingdom is based on several factors:–Presence of a nucleus

–Unicellular or multi-cellular

–How organisms get their food.

The 6 Kingdoms–Archaebacteria

–Eubacteria

–Protists

–Fungi

–Plants

–Animals

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Each living species can only belong to one Kingdom.

Now, within each Kingdom, species are further subdivided other categories. For each Kingdom, there are 6 levels of further classifications called “TAXA.”The Six “Taxa” from Largest Taxa to Smallest

1. Phylum

2. Class

3. Order

4. Family

5. Genus

6. Species

Organisms are grouped by

shared characteristics

Ursus maritimus

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Six Taxa of all Kingdoms

Phylum:

This group is the largest of the 6 taxa.

Chordata = have a backbone

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The “Class” is the second largest of

the Taxa after Phylum.

Polar bears, black bears, pandas,

foxes and squirrels all are in the

Class Mammals.

. Class: A class is a group of

similar “Orders.”

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For example polar bears and black bears

belong to the same Order called Carnivora.

These animals are meat eaters.

Orders are smaller than

classes.

The organisms are more similar

to one another.

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Family: is a group of similar genera.

For example: The bear, polar bears, black

bears, and pandas all are part of the Family

Ursidae.

This is the third smallest of the taxa.

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Genus is a group of similar species.

This is the second smallest of the taxa.

For example grizzly bears belong to the

Genus Ursus.

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Species, a group of organisms in a

population that can interbreed and produce

fertile offspring.

This is the smallest and most specific of the

taxa.

Only one kind of organism is found in a

species.

Polar bears belong to the species maritimus.

Ursus maritimus

Who is Carolus Linnaeus?Carolus Linnaeus was a Swedish botanist

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

Binomial Nomenclature

Linnaeus devised a system of naming organisms.

Linnaeus placed organisms in groups based on their observable features.

Binomial Nomenclature

Bi means two

Nomen means name

A binomial nomenclature is a classification system using two names to identify an organism

An animal is known by two names…

Canis lupus is the scientific name for a gray wolf.

This system uses a binomial nomenclature

Genus…

Other animals in the Canisgroup include dogs and coyotesThe genus name is always Capitalized

Species...Only grey wolves are known as Canis lupus.The species name is always lowercase

Canis lupus

Canis lupusCanis familiaris

Quick Review

What are the seven taxa or levels?

Who designed the system?

What taxa are organisms named with?

Levels of Classification

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

Organisms are

grouped by their

shared

characteristics.