Senior High School

12
General Biology 2
Quarter 3 – Module 11
Taxonomy: Classification and
Naming of Living Things
 After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. define taxonomy, classification, and trait; and
2. demonstrate knowledge of binomial nomenclature; and
3. appreciate how diverse organisms are named, described, and classified.

Figure 13.1. Milk fish (Chanos chanson) is called in different local names in the Philippines. Source: philnews.ph

Milkfish (Fig. 13.1) or what we called bangus in Tagalog dialect is a Filipino

favorite dish whether it is fried, daing or sinigang. Interestingly, this particular fish
is known in different local names such as bangrus in Guimaras and Samar and awa
in Cebu. Other Philippine fish names can get confusing because different names can
be given to the same kind and can be used in multiple other fish just on the same
region and dialect. Imagine the confusion it brings to various animals, plants and
other living things if different people throughout the world used their own names
in different languages.

In order to avoid confusion, a formal system of naming species of living things that
reflects order and relationship arise from evolutionary processes is used universally.
Systematics, is the study of diversity of organisms and the evolutionary
relationships among them. Taxonomy, on the other hand, is the scientific study of
describing, naming and classifying living organisms.
A Swedish botanist, Karl von Linne popularly known in
his Latin name as Carolus Linnaeus, Father of Modern
Taxonomy created Binomial System of Nomenclature.
This binomial system of nomenclature brings order to a
chaotic world of common names. It is universal and clearly

indicates the level of classification involved in any

Figure 13.2. Carolus Linnaeus, descriptions. Every species has two-part name:
Father of Taxonomy.
the broader classification genus (plural: genera)
with a second word designates species or specific epithet. No two kinds of living
organisms have the same binomial name, and every organism has only one correct
name as required by various internationally agreed codes of rules.
At present, the following nomenclature codes govern the naming of species, as
follows:
 Algae, Fungi, and Plants – International Code of Botanical Nomenclature
(ICBN)
 Animals - International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN)
 Bacteria –International Code of Nomenclature Bacteria (ICNB)
 Viruses - International Committee on Taxonomy 0fof Viruses (ICTV).

Some of the major rules in nomenclature include: (1) the name should be in Latin;
(2) the genus of an organism begins with a capital letter; the species designation
begins with a lowercase letter; (3) the entire scientific name is italicized when
typewritten or underlined separately when handwritten. Thus, the scientific name
of human is written as Homo sapiens; (4) all taxa must have an author when
described. That is, Homo sapiens L., the L stands for Linneaus who first successfully
described and named the organism. When the genus is understood, it can be
abbreviated as
H. sapiens.

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Carolus Linnaeus recognized that different species could be grouped into
broader categories based on shared characteristics. Any grouping of organisms that
shares a particular set of characteristics forms an assemblage called taxon.
Although scientists now use additional categories, Linnaeus’s idea is the basis of the
taxonomic hierarchy used today (Table.13.1). The three major domains Archaea,
Bacteria, and Eukarya are the most inclusive levels. Each domain is divided into
kingdoms, which in turn are divided into phyla, then classes, orders, families,
genera

and species. A taxon is a group at any rank that is domain Eukarya is a taxon, as is
the order Primates and the species Homo sapiens.
Table 13.1. Taxonomic Hierarchy. Life is divided into domains, then kingdoms, then numerous smaller categories. This table shows the complete
classification for human. Source: Krempels and Lee,2003.

Taxonomic Group Human found in:

Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Primates
Family Pongidae
Genus Homo
Species Homo sapiens
 The more features two organisms have in common, the more taxonomic
levels they share. A human, a squid and a fly are all members of the kingdom
Animalia but their differences place them in separate phyla. A human, rat and pig
are more closely related –all belong to the same kingdom, phylum and class. A
human, orangutan and chimpanzee are even more closely related, sharing the same
kingdom, phylum, class, order and family.

Dichotomous Key

For the field of biology, classification is very critical. It is important to have

systems in place to recognize and classify organisms as we continue to discover
new species, learn better techniques for analyzing interactions between species (i.e.
DNA analysis) and exchange knowledge internationally. Having such, you can easily
distinguish any particular entities and describe any living specimens at hand. A
taxonomic key is suitable tool for this purpose, which is an organized set of
couplets of mutually exclusive characteristics of biological organisms. Because the
key branches split in two at each stage, it is called a dichotomous (from the Greek
dicho meaning “in two” or “split” and tom, meaning “to cut”) key. The paired
statements described contrasting features found in the organisms against an
appropriate dichotomous key. These taxonomic keys will begin with general
characteristics and lead to couplets indicating progressively specific characteristics.
If the organism falls into the indicated taxonomic level. Look at the example below.

Animals

Has no Has
feathers feathers

Has no cannot
Has legs Can swim
legs swim

lizard snake duck hen

Figure 13.4. Dichotomous Key. A tool that allows the user to determine the identify of items in the natural world. Source: Ryan P. Murphy 2010.
Directions: Practice writing scientific names. Change the following microbial names
to make them scientifically correct according to binomial nomenclature.

1. clostridium BOTULINUM –

2. Vibrio Cholerae –

3. streptococcus pneumoniae –

4. Salmonella Typhii –

5. Yersinia ENTEROLITICA -

Direction: Read each question carefully and choose the letter of the best answer.
1. Which of the following statements about taxonomic levels is correct?
A. Species is the most general.
B. Kingdom is the most specific.
C. Class is less specific than phylum.
D. Family is more specific than order.
2. What is the name for the classification system that uses two names?
A. Classification studies C. taxonomic hierarchy
B. binomial nomenclature D. binomial theorem
3. Which of the following statements is incorrect about the rules in
binomial nomenclature?
A. When scientific names are written by hand, it must be always
italicized.
B. It is a standard rule for all organisms to have a latinized scientific
name.
C. Linnaean nomenclature is composed of genus and specific epithet.
D. First letter of genus should be in uppercase while lowercase in
species.
4. The correct way of writing scientific name of human is .
A. HOMO SAPIENS C. Homo sapiens
B. Homo sapiens D. Homo sapiens
5. A student discovers an arachnid with a segmented abdomen, long legs,
and a tail with no stinger. The student uses the dichotomous key below
to identify it. Which arachnid has the student found?

A. Whip Scorpion C. Wind Scorpion

B. Daddy Long Legs D. Scorpion