Classification Notes Overview Classification Grouping organisms

Classification Notes Overview I.

Classification a. Grouping organisms together based upon similarities and differences in morphological and behavioral characteristics. b. Taxonomy is the study of classifying organisms i. Found in universities, museums ii. Necessary for scientific and economic reasons c. Carolus Linnaeus i. Known as the “Father of Classification” ii. Credited for the binomial nomenclature structure of the scientific name that is used to name living organisms today iii. “Bi” means two; nomenclature means “naming” therefore binomial nomenclature is a system where an organism’s name has two parts, a genus name and a species name. iv. Scientific Name- The genus part comes first and is capitalized like a proper name and underlined, the species name is second and written in all lower case letters and underlined. The genus and species can be written in italics to replace the underlining, but they are written in either italics or underlined, not both. v. Example: Wolf 1. Common Name = Gray Wolf, Timber Wolf, Wolf 2. Scientific Name = Canis lupis or Canis lupis (Canis is the genus name, lupis is the species name) vi. Example: Coyote 1. Common Name = Coyote, wild dog, trickster, 2. Scientific Name = Canis latrans or Canis latrans (Canis is the genus name, latrans is the species name) 3. Scientific names are used when communicating about an organism to alleviate any confusion that could be created by using common names which are often different, depending upon the region of the country or cultural differences in a particular area. There is only one scientific name for each species of organism. There is no confusion when identifying an organism by its scientific name. vii. Organisms only breed within their species. They do not naturally interbreed with other species in nature. This keeps the species and its adaptations pure. They are adapted for a specific environment, interbreeding would probably diminish their capacity to survive in the environment which they were best adapted to. A coyote will not mate with a wolf in nature. d. Morphological Characteristics (some examples) i. Height, weight, color, body plan ii. Legs vs. wings vs. fins iii. Wings, feather iv. Number of chambers in the heart v. Lungs vs. gills vi. Exoskeleton vs. endoskeleton vii. These are both external and internal morphological characteristics

e. Behavioral Characteristics i. Mating behavior ii. Feeding behavior iii. Hibernation iv. Estivation v. Carnivore, Herbivore, Omnivore, Detrivore vi. Decomposer vii. Nocturnal viii. Diurnal f.

Classification Hierarchy i. Domain ii. Kingdom King iii. Phylum Philip iv. Class Came v. Order Over vi. Family For vii. Genus Gene’s viii. species soup

g. Six Kingdoms of Life i. Archaebacteria ii. Eubacteria iii. Protista iv. Fungi v. Plantae vi. Animalia h. Dichotomous Key i. A tool or set of instructions that is used to identify an organism’s classification beginning with kingdom all the way to its species. It identifies an organism’s scientific name. If research has been performed on the organism, you can find out information about the organism.