ClassificationA Brief Introduction!

Picture yourself at a grocery store…

You want to find this…Where do you go?• Freezer aisle

– Ice cream area

You want to find this…Where do you go?• Breakfast/Cereal Aisle

– Cold Cereals

What’s the connection to science?• Like a grocery store, we try to organize living

things in categories that make sense– Helps everyone find what they need– Makes it easier to describe life• For an example…see the next slide!

Scientific name: Mephitis mephitis

What is classification?• A way of arranging living things “scientifically”• The arrangement of organisms into groups based on

their relationship to each other.• Taxonomy—branch of science that classifies

organisms and assigns each a universally accepted name.– Not to be mistaken for…

Taxidermy!

Why classify?• People naturally look for patterns, so do

scientists in living things.• Note: classification systems change with our

new knowledge of living things (and even well known organisms.)– Example: Obtaining DNA information rearranged

the “tree of life” big time!

Who began classifying organisms?• Carlus Linnaeus (AKA: Carl

von Linné…he’s Swedish) is the father of taxonomy– Lived from 1707-1778

• Created binomial nomenclature– Genus and species name– Homo sapien– Escherichia coli

Creating Order from Chaos• Logical names created– Tacitus bellus

• “Silent bell”• Tacit = silent• Bell = flower’s shape

– Helianthus giganteus• “Giant Sunflower”• Helio = sun• Gigantic = giant

Science Names vs. Common Names• Ailurus fulgens • Red Panda

– Misnamed…it’s NOT a panda!• Closer to racoons• CLOSEST to weasels

Top Level of Organizations…• Domains– 3 Domains: Eubacteria, Archaea and Eukarota

• Kingdoms– Currently 6 kingdoms– Use to be only 5

Taxonomic Classification

•Kingdom• Phylum• Class• Order• Family• Genus• Species

6 Kingdom Overview• Eubacteria• Archaeabacteria• Protista• Fungi• Plantae• Animalia

Bacteria/Eubacteria (=true bacteria)

Archaeabacteria

Protista

Fungi

Plantae

Animalia

What group do you think has the most living species on earth today?

• Flowers• Fungi• Bacteria• Insects• Mammals• Protists• Trees• Archaea-

bacteria

Recap…What does classification allow us to do?

• Understand how living things are related!

Cladograms/Phylogenetic Trees