Classification of Living Things

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Classification of Living Things

• Diversity of Life
• By Mr. Lowe

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What is classification?

• Classification The grouping of things according
  to shared characteristics or traits.
• Taxonomy The science of classifying organisms.

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Early classification systems

• The Greek Scientist Aristotle first classified
  living organisms as either plant or animal.
• John Ray was the first to use the term species

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Binomial Nomenclature

• Developed by Carolus Linnaeus
• Two-name system
• Each organism has a Genus and a species name
• First name (genus) second name (species)

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Linnaeus Classification Example
1. Round, separated petals
2. Large, broad petals
3. Bunched, pointed petals
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What is a scientific name?

• Combination of the Genus and species name of an
  organism
• Scientific names of organisms are always
  italicized or underlined
• The first letter of the Genus is always
  capitalized.
• Example Panthera tigris

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Questions

• What is classification?
• Why is classifying living things important?
• What is taxonomy?
• Describe binomial nomenclature.

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Questions

• Who developed a system for naming living
  organisms?
• For what is John Ray known?
• What is a scientific name of an organism and how
  is it written?

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Seven classification groups of living things

• Kingdom - Largest category
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species - Smallest Category

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Leopard Classification
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Mnemonic to help remember the Classification
Groups!

• King Poopoo Came Over For Great Spaghetti

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Questions

• What are the seven classification groups?

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Scientific Naming

• Why is it important?
• avoid confusion when discussing information with
  other scientists
• some animals have different names in different
  parts of the world
• allows for easy organization

What type of animal is this?
Eastern US Mountain Lion
Western US Cougar
In Florida Florida Panther
South America Puma
Scientific Name Puma concolor
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Dichotomous Key

• What is it?
• a tool used to identify an organism if you dont
  know exactly what it is
• each type of organism has its own specific key
• so you can tell the differences between similar
  organisms

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Dichotomous Key

• How do they work?
• made up of a detailed list of questions about
  identifying characteristics
• each question has 2 possible answers
• the questions gradually narrow down the list of
  possible organisms
• eventually leads to an organisms scientific name

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1A Object has only straight lines, go to 2
1B Object has curved line, go to 4

2A Color is blue-- Azul calamus
2B Color is not blue, go to 3

3A Object has four equal sides--Quadratis rufus
3B Opposite sides of object are equal-- Rectangulo crudus

4A Object has one continuous curving line, go to 5
4B Object has curved and straight lines--Azul undo

5A Object is red--Ovalado rufus
5B Object is green--Orbis crudus