Transcript Taxonomy

Taxonomy
(Naming and
Grouping)
Why is a naming system important?
Have you seen a…
• Florida panther?
• Cougar?
• Mountain lion?
• Catamount?
• Puma?
• They are all the
SAME animal!
• Their difference
is their regional
“common name”
The origins of taxonomy
• Taxonomy → grouping and naming of organisms
– to understand the variety of life
– to avoid confusion of regional names
• Carl (Carolus) Linnaeus (1707-1778)
– developed a binomial nomenclature (2-part
name), now called the scientific name
– developed a 7-level (taxon) classification
• (domain), kingdom, phylum, class, order, family,
genus, species
– Dreaded King Philip Came Over For Great Spaghetti
– Did King Philip Come Over From Glorious Spain?
– Dumb Kids Playing Chicken On Freeways Go Splat
The Three Domains
(added in 1990)
(…eukaryotes)
(…”common”
prokaryotes)
(…“ancient” prokaryotes)
The scientific name is
taken from the genus and
species
Taxonomic groups
• Beginning with domain, each successive level
of classification becomes more specific
• Organisms
within the
same group
have more in
common with
one another
than those
Members of a genus
within the
share more in
next largest
common than
members of a family
group
Kingdoms and Domains
The Three Domains
Archaea
Bacteria
Eukarya
The Six Kingdoms
Archaea
Bacteria
Protista
Plantae
Fungi
Animalia
What is a Cladogram?
• Cladogram →
diagram that
shows
evolutionary
relationships
between
organisms
• Helps scientists
understand how
one lineage broke
away from another
in the course of
evolution
What is a Dichotomous Key?
• Dichotomous key →
classification used
to identify
unknown
organisms
• Based on visible
similarities
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