Why do we Classify???

• Biologists use a system of scientific classification to organize information about the diversity of living things.

• classified organisms as either animals or plants.

• Animals were classified according to the where they lived.

But first … a brief history….More than 2000 years ago, Aristotle’s classification system…..

Linnaeus’s System• Carl Linnaeus’s system is the basis for the system we use

today for taxonomy. (Father of Taxonomy) .. Based on

morphology

• Taxonomy: The science or study of classification.

• Modern taxonomists also use..

Phylogeny: an organism’s evolutionary history

Modern taxonomists use phylogenetic trees and cladograms

What is a phylogenetic tree?

It is a family tree that shows the evolutionary relationships thought to exist among groups of organisms.

It shows common ancestory.

A cladogram shows the evolutionaryrelationships among a group of organisms.

Organisms are grouped by their:• anatomy, • method of reproduction, • embryonic development, • evolutionary past (phylogeny) • method of consumption, and • similarities in DNA.

In modern taxonomy:

Each category is contained within another, and they are arranged from: broadest to most specific.

Species level

Domain levelSpecies level

Domain level

Domain

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

SpeciesBinomial nomenclature

Hold that thought…..

Broadest

Most specific

Modern Taxonomy

• King Kingdom• Philip Phylum (Division)

• Came Class• Over Order• For Family• Grape Genus• Soda Species

Common nameA. Every Day name that people know and use

B. Can be misleading

1) star-fish

2) Sea-horse

or

or

Binomial nomenclature = 2 Name system

Genus = Puma Species descriptor = concolor

Species name

Written = underlined,Typed = ItalicsGenus = CapitalizedSpecies descriptor – lower case

Stiphrornis pyrrholaemus, which is Greek for "stout bird that bears a flame-colored throat.“ (New species discovered in 2008)Commonly known as the olive-backed forest robin

All scientific names are written in Latin

Chaos chaos

Bufonaria borisbeckeri is a species of medium-large sea snail, the “frog snails”. The species is named after the famous German tennis player, Boris Becker.

Stasimopus mandelai is a species of ctenizid trapdoor spider from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.

The species was named in 2004 by zoologists Brent E Hendrixson and Jason E Bond honoring Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa

Pheidole harrisonfordi is a species of ant named after the actor Harrison Ford in honor of his work in conservation.