Biologists use 7 Levels of Classification

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Biologists use 7 Levels of Classification

• Linnaeus named about 4000 species
• Carolus Linnaeus developed systems for naming
  organizing species into groups. Today scientists
  have named over 1 million species with help of
  modern technology
• NAMING SPECIES
• USING SCIENTIFIC NAMES
• Organisms can be classified into 7 levels
• Dichotomous keys and field guides help people
  identify organisms

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NAMING SPECIES

• A genus is a group of species that have similar
  characteristics. Ursus groups all are bears
  include Ursus arctos(grizzly) Ursus
  maritimus(polar) .
• Linnaeus developed a binomial nomenclature system
  for modern taxonomy. Binomial 2 names and
  nomenclature list of names. It is a system of
  naming something using 2 names or words (most are
  Latin terms).
• If genus name isnt included, species may by
  mystery (all 3 below are species gracilis,
  meaning slender/graceful in Latin. Genus always
  comes first, first letter is capitalized, and
  entire name is in italics. Species name is second
  is italicized too, all in lower case.

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7 Levels of Classification

• The largest level is the kingdom, the group with
  the most species. Below is an example for a
  housecat.
• Kingdom (Animalia- the animals)
• Phylum (Chordata- animals with backbones)
• Class (Mammalia-mammals that nurse their young)
• Order(Carnivora-carnivores that kill or eat other
  animals)
• Family(Felidae-the cat family)
• Genus(Felis-housecats, cougars many others)
• Species(catus-all housecats, no matter what
  breed)
• The more names an organism shares with another
  organism, the more closely related the 2
  organisms are.

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7 Levels of Classification

• Scientists can compare very broad categories of
  organisms, like kingdom phyla, or very specific
  categories, like species.
• Can remember classification levels by Kings Play
  Chess On Fat Green Stools.
• A human is classified like this
• Kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class
  Mammalia, order Primates, family Hominadae, genus
  Homo, and species sapiens.

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Dichotomous Key/Field Guide

• Taxonomists have come up with a tool to identify
  organisms like beetles (over 300,000 known
  species). A dichotomous key asks a series of
  questions that can be answered in only 2 ways.
  Each answer leads to another question with only 2
  choices. Eventually, you will identify the
  organism.
• The questions in a dichotomous key gradually
  narrow down the list of possible organisms.
• Field Guides are another tool for identifying
  organisms. It includes paintings or pictures of
  familiar species. Flower guides may start with
  the flowers color, while bird guides are
  arranged by orders families. Field guides also
  include maps where organisms live.

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