Taxonomy – how organisms are grouped

TaxonomyDefined:

Discipline of classifying organisms and assigning each

organism a universally accepted name.

In other words, naming things.

Why common names don’t workCommon names vary among languages.

Example:

United Kingdom – Buzzard refers to a hawk

United States – Buzzard refers to a vulture

Red-tailed Hawk Honey Buzzard Turkey Vulture

History

• Aristotle – grouped organisms by basic characteristics– Ex blood or no blood

• Scientists would describe the appearance of an organism in great detail.– Very long process

• Modern naming of animals – Carolus Linnaeus

Carolus Linnaeus (1707 – 1708)

• Created the system of naming we use today.– Developed Binomial Nomenclature (a system that used 2

latin words to describe an organism.– The First word is the GENUS of the organism.– The second is the SPECIES of the organism.

• In taxonomy, a group or level of organization is called a taxonomic category or taxon.

Using your name, what would be your name in Binomial

nomenclature?

• Ex: Mrs. Beard’s first name is Amy, so her scientific name is – Beard amy

• Yours:

Example of Binomial Nomenclature• Polar Bear is Ursus maritimus

• Ursus: genus

Ursus contains 5 other kinds of bears

• maritimus: species

The Latin word, maritimus, refers to the sea.

Polar bears often live on pack ice that floats in the sea.

Examples of Binomial Nomenclature

• Polar Bear = Ursus martimus

• Grizzly Bear = Ursus arctos horribilus

• Black Bear = Ursus americanus

In addition to Genus and Species, each organism

has other categories it can belong to. These

categories are called TAXA(plural) or TAXON

(singular)

Each organism has its own…

DomainKingdom

PhylumClass

OrderFamily

GenusSpecies

How to remember:Da King Phillip Came Over For Green Salad

Domain Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Definitions to know• SpeciesSpecies: group of similar organisms that can

breed and reproduce

• GenusGenus: group of closely related species

• FamilyFamily: Group of genera that share many characteristics

• OrderOrder: Group of similar families

• ClassClass: Group of similar orders

• PhylumPhylum: Group of closely related classes

• KingdomKingdom: Largest taxonomic group, consisting of closely related phyla.

Here We Go…Polar Bear

Species: maritimusGenus: Ursus

Family: UrsidaeOrder: CarnivoraClass: MammaliaPhylum: ChordataKingdom: AnimiliaDomain: Eukarya

What do these mean?...lets see

What they mean

Species: maritimus (lives in marine environment)

Genus: Ursus (kind of bear)

Family: Ursidae (larger category of bears)

Order: Carnivora (meat-eating animals)

Class: Mammalia (warm-blooded, hair, & milk)

Phylum: Chordata (vertebrates)

Kingdom: Animilia (there are 6 kingdoms)

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Ursidae

Genus Ursus

Speciesmaritimus

For humans…this is their taxonomic classification:

• Domain: Eukarya• Kingdom: Animalia• Phylum: Chordata

– Subphylum: Vertebrata

• Class: Mammalia• Order: Primate• Family: Hominidae• Genus: Homo• Species: sapiens

Ways to identify organisms

• Dichotomous Key– Statements that describe organisms to help

identify them– Always start with the first 2 statements

• Cladogram– A diagram that shows the evolutionary

relationships among a group of organisms.

Classification Using Cladograms

Crustaceans

Using Cladograms, you can see that crabs and barnacles share similar characteristics

because they both molt & are segmented

Gastropods

Molted Exoskeleton

Segmentation

Free swimming Larva

Where do viruses go?Viruses: Are particles of nucleic acid, protein,

and in some cases lipids that can reproduce ONLY by infecting living cells.

Viruses are made of a core of either DNA or RNA surrounded by a protein coat.

These are T4 Bacteriophage

A bacteriophage is a virus which infects

bacteria

Where do viruses go? (continued)Viruses are not considered alive because they

don’t have ALL the characteristics of life.

Example: They can’t reproduce independently

These are the Influenza Viruses

Influenza or "flu" is an infection of the respiratory

tract that can affect millions of people every year.

The End.