Classification of Living Things Diversity of Life What

Classification of Living Things Diversity of Life

What is classification? • • Classification is the grouping of things according to characteristics The science of classifying organisms is known as taxonomy

Early classification systems • • Aristotle grouped animals according to the way they moved John Ray was the first to use the term “species”

Binomial Nomenclature • • Developed by Linnaeus Two-name system Each organism has a genus and a species name First name (genus); second name (species)

What is a scientific name? • • • Combination of the genus and species name of an organism Scientific names of organisms are always italicized or underlined: (Genus is capitalized; species name is lower-case)

Seven classification groups of living things 1. Kingdom (Broadest) 2. 3. 4. Phylum Class Order 5. Family 6. Genus 7. Species (specific) King Phillip Came Over For Great Spaghetti

Let’s classify. . . • • Here is the classification for a Lion Kingdom: Animalia (animal kingdom) Phylum: Chordata (Vertebrates) Class: Mammalia (mammals) Order: Carnivora (carnivores) Family: Felidae (cats) Genus: Panthera Species: Panthera leo

Dichotomous keys • • What is a dichotomous key? A step-by-step guide to identify an organism • Each step gives a choice of two descriptions. • The descriptions have to be opposites • Ex. Leaves round vs. leaves not round