Classification

The scientific name of the saltwater crocodile is Crocodylus porosus.

Types of living things

Living things are classified by similar characteristics.

Each different type of organism is called a species.

It is estimated that there are over ten million different species on Earth.

All of the same kind of dust mite are members of a single species.

Carolus Linneaus Lived in 1700’s Attempted to classify

all known organisms by only their shared characteristics.

Example: If it swam or ran or if it had hair or scales

Classifying life To classify a living thing into one of the

kingdoms, scientists ask 3 questions:1. Does it have prokaryotic (contains no nucleus)

cells or eukaryotic (does have a nucleus) cells?

2. Is it single-celled (one-celled) or multicellular (many-celled)?

3. Does it get energy by making its own food (as a producer) or by getting food from other organisms (as a consumer)?

Plant and Animal kingdomscompared:

Classification Pyramid

Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species

Classification King Phillip Came Over For Good Spaghetti

K Kingdom P Phylum C Class O Order F Family G Genus S Species

Naming Names An organism’s scientific name is always the

same for a specific organism no matter how many common names it has.

Scientist from all over the world use the same scientific name.

Naming names Before Linneaus some scientist used as

many as 15 Latin names. Linneaus gave each organism a two part

name. Linneaus used his observations to devise a

naming system for organisms known as binomial nomenclature.

Understanding Scientific Names “bi” = two “nomem” = name Binomial nomenclature= two names 1st part= Genus 2nd part = species The first name is capitalized, the second name

is not.

Scientific Names

A scientific name is the two-part, scientifically recognized name given to an organism, consisting of its genus and species.

Scientific Names You may have a

difficult time understanding scientific names because they are usually in Latin or Greek.

Felis is Latin for “cat” and domesticus is Latin for “domesticated.”

Greek & Latin Names The name actually has a full meaning. Ex: Tyrannosaurus rex- 1st part = “tyrant

lizard” 2nd part = “King” The name should be either underlined or

italicized.

What is this animal called? Skunk Une Mouffette Cheche Un Zorrillo Mephitis mephitis

Levels of classification Organisms with shared characteristics are

grouped together. What characteristic do these organisms share?

Levels of classification For animals, the levels of classification are:

kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

• At what level are these two animals classified differently?

Dichotomous Keys A dichotomous key is a tool that helps its user

identify natural objects like birds, trees, rocks, fungi, and insects.

Dichotomous means "divided into two parts.” Turn in your book to page 50 and identify the

organism in Figure 3.8

Dichotomous Keys

It is difficult to create a key for the kingdoms because there are so many organisms to consider.

Dichotomous Keys A dichotomous key turns questions into paired

statements.

Dichotomous Keys Most dichotomous keys are designed to identify

small groups like trees, butterflies, and song birds.

Can you suggest a way to tell these arthropod classes apart?

Dichotomous Keys Here is one solution… follow on page 52.