Classification system in

Biology
Important terms:

• Nomenclature: The process of giving scientific names to the organisms.

• Classification: The process of grouping animals and plants into convenient
categories on the basis of certain observable traits.
• Identification: It is determination of correct position of an organism in the
classification.
• Taxonomy: It is the study of the process of classification.
• Systematic: This includes the identification, nomenclature and classification of
organism based on various parameters.
• New systematic: This covers systematic studies considering evolutionary
relationship including other branches molecular biology, cytology, genetics, and
biochemistry.
Biological Classification
Biological classification is the scientific procedure of arranging the organisms in
a hierarchical series of groups and sub-groups on the basis of their similarities
and dissimilarities.

History of Classification
• Hippocrates- Classified animals into various groups
• Aristotle- Father of Zoology/Biology
• Theophrastus- Father of Botany
• John Ray- British botanist
• Carrolus Linnaeus- Father of Taxonomy. He coined the term class and
systematics.
“Systema Naturae”, “Genera Pantarum”, “Species Plantarum”
• Julian Huxley- Introduced the term “New Systematics”
Binomial Nomenclature

• The system of binomial nomenclature was introduced by Carl Linnaeus.

• Multiple local names make it extremely difficult to identify an organism globally and keep a track
of the number of species. Thus, it creates a lot of confusion. To get rid of this confusion, a standard
protocol came up.
• According to it, each and every organism would have one scientific name which would be used by
everyone to identify an organism. This process of standardized naming is called as Binomial
Nomenclature.
• All living species including plants, animals, birds and also some microbes have their own scientific
names.e.g.,
• The scientific name of the tiger is presented as Panthera tigris. ‘Panthera’ represents the genus and ‘tigris’ represents
a particular species or specific epithet.
• The scientific name of humans is presented as Homo sapiens. ‘Homo’ represents the genus and ‘sapiens’ represents a
particular species.
Rules of Binomial Nomenclature

A Biologist from all over the world follows a uniform set of principles for naming the organisms. There are two international
codes which are agreed upon by all the biologists over the entire world for the naming protocol. They are:
1. International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) – Deals with the biological nomenclature for plants.
2. International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) – Deals with the biological nomenclature of animals.
3. These codes make sure that each organism gets a specific name and that name is globally identified.
4. The naming follows certain conventions. Each scientific name has two parts:
Generic name
Specific epithet
5. The rest of the binomial nomenclature rules for writing the scientific names of organisms include the following:
• All the scientific names of organisms are usually Latin. Hence, they are written in italics.
• There exist two parts of a name. The first word identifies the genus and the second word identifies the species.
• When the names are handwritten, they are underlined or italicized if typed. This is done to specify its Latin origin.
• The name of the genus starts with a capital letter and the name of the species starts with a small letter.

• Ex. Escherichia coli or Escherichia coli

• “Binomial nomenclature is the biological system of naming the organisms in which the name is
composed of two terms, where, the first term indicates the genus and the second term indicates the
species of the organism.”

Why is Binomial Nomenclature Important?

As stated previously, there are millions of species of organisms distributed throughout the world.
Furthermore, the same organisms are known by different names around the world and this can cause
confusion when trying to identify or classify. Hence, binomial nomenclature was seen as a viable
solution to this problem.

Drawbacks of Binomial Nomenclature:

Some of the basic drawbacks of binomial nomenclature are:
• If two or more names are currently in use, according to the law of priority, the correct name will be the
one used first and the others end up being synonyms as validity is the senior synonym. Providing
stability in the naming and classification of organisms must be emphasized.
• Also, the names used prior to those included in the “Systema Naturae”, by Linnaeus are not
recognized.
History of classification

1. Artificial system of classification

2. Natural system of classification
3. Numerical taxonomy or Quantitative taxonomy
4. Phylogenetic classification (Cladistic)
5. Karyotaxonomy
6. Chemotaxonomy
7. Experimental taxonomy
8. Biochemical taxonomy
9. New systematics
Taxonomic Hierarchy
The groups (largest to smallest) A sentence to help you remember!
• Domain • Dear
• Kingdom • King
• Phylum • Philip
• Class • Came
• Order • Over
• Family • For
• Genus • Good
• Species • Soup
▪ Kingdom
▪ The kingdom is the highest level of classification, which is divided into subgroups at various levels. There are 5
kingdoms in which the living organisms are classified, namely, Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera.
▪ Phylum
▪ This is the next level of classification and is more specific than the kingdom. There are 35 phyla in kingdom
Animalia. For Example – Porifera, Chordata, Arthropoda, etc.
▪ Class
▪ Class was the most general rank in the taxonomic hierarchy until phyla were not introduced. Kingdom Animalia
includes 108 classes including class Mammalia, Reptilia, Aves, etc. However, the classes used today are different
from those proposed by Linnaeus and are not used frequently.
▪ Order
▪ Order is a more specific rank than class. The order constitutes one or more than one similar families. There are
around 26 orders in class Mammalia such as Primates, Carnivora, etc.
▪ Family
▪ This category of taxonomic hierarchy includes various genera that share a few similarities. For eg., the families in
the order Carnivora include Canidae, Felidae, Ursidae, etc.
▪ Genus
▪ A group of similar species forms a genus. Some genera have only one species and is known as monotypic,
whereas, some have more than one species and is known as polytypic. For e.g., lion and tiger are placed under
the genus Panthera.
▪ Species
▪ It is the lowest level of taxonomic hierarchy. There are about 8.7 million different species on earth. It refers to a
group of organisms that are similar in shape, form, reproductive features. Species can be further divided into sub-
species.
Broad concept of classification

Feature to classify:
1. Unicellular or multicellular with specialized organelles-
“Cellularity”
2. Presence or absence of a defined nucleus- “Ultrastructure”
3. Mode of nutrition- “Energy & Carbon Utilization”
4. Based on ammonia excretion
5. Based on habitat
1. Cellularity

Unicellular Organisms Multicellular Organisms

Multicellular organisms are composed of more than
Unicellular organisms are composed of a single cell
one cell
Simple body organization Complex body organization

A single cell carries out all necessary life processes Multiple cells perform different functions

The total cell body is exposed to the environment Only the outer cells are exposed to the environment

Division of labour is at cellular, tissue, organs and

Division of labour is at the organelle level
organ system level

Includes both eukaryotes and prokaryotes Includes only eukaryotes

Multicellular organisms have a comparatively longer

A lifespan of a unicellular organism is usually short
lifespan
2. Ultrastructure: Prokaryotes or Eukaryotes
 Prokaryotes Eukaryotes

Type of Cell Always unicellular Unicellular and multi-cellular

Cell size Ranges in size from 0.2 μm – 2.0 μm in diameter Size ranges from 10 μm – 100 μm in
diameter
Cell wall Usually present; chemically complex in nature When present, chemically simple in
nature
Nucleus Absent. Instead, they have a nucleoid region in the cell Present

Ribosomes Present. Smaller in size and spherical in shape Present. Comparatively larger in size
and linear in shape
DNA arrangement Circular Linear
Mitochondria Absent Present
Cytoplasm Present, but cell organelles absent Present, cell organelles present
Endoplasmic reticulum Absent Present
Plasmids Present Very rarely found in eukaryotes
Ribosome Small ribosomes Large ribosomes
Lysosome Lysosomes and centrosomes are absent Lysosomes and centrosomes are present

Cell division Through binary fission Through mitosis

Flagella The flagella are smaller in size The flagella are larger in size
Reproduction Asexual Both asexual and sexual
Example Bacteria and Archaea Plant and Animal cell
3. Energy & Carbon Utilization (Microbial Nutrition)
 Autotrophs Heterotrophs
Type of Organisms
Usually members of the plant kingdom and certain
All members of the animal kingdom
unicellular organisms like cyanobacteria
Mode of Nutrition
Heterotrophs are the consumers who depend on other
Autotrophs are producers which prepare their own food.
sources for their food.
Classified into
These can be classified as photoautotrophs and These can be classified as photoheterotrophs and
chemoautotrophs. chemoheterotrophs.
Presence of chloroplasts
The chloroplast helps in preparing food. They do not contain chloroplast, so cannot prepare food.
Energy is obtained from
They obtain energy from inorganic sources by converting They obtain energy directly or indirectly from other
light energy into chemical energy. organisms.
Energy Storage
Autotrophs can store light energy and chemical energy. Heterotrophs cannot store energy.
Examples
Green plants, algae and a few photosynthetic bacteria are Cows, buffaloes, tigers, horses, humans are examples of
examples of autotrophs. heterotrophs.
 4. Ammonia excretion
1. Ammonotelic animals
• An ammonotelic organism excretes nitrogenous waste as soluble ammonia. Ammonia the product or waste
formed is highly toxic. Highly soluble therefore needs plenty of water for its excretion.
• Example- Most of the aquatic animals including protozoans, crustaceans, platyhelminths, cnidarians, poriferans, echinoderms,
fishes, larvae/tadpoles of amphibians are ammonotelic.
2. Ureotelic animals
• A ureotelic organism excretes excess nitrogen as urea. Urea is less toxic and needs less water in comparison to
Ammonia. The uricotelic organism excretes uric acid or its salts. In contrast to Ammonia and Urea, Uric acid
is the least toxic and the most limited soluble in water. It can be stored in cells and body tissues without toxic
effects and thus needs the least water and is a highly efficient mode of excretion in comparison to two other
methods.
• Example- Ureotelic organisms include cartilaginous fish, few bony fishes, adult amphibians and mammals including humans.
3. Uricotelic animals
• The species that excrete uric acid waste are called uricotelic organisms. The excreta of uricotelic organisms is
typically white paste and insoluble solids or semi-solid. Needs very little water just to flush out the uric acid.
• Example- Uricotelic organisms include terrestrial arthropods (including insects), lizards, snakes, and birds.
5. Habitat

Terrestrial Habitat Aquatic Habitat

When animal and plant living on the land When animal and plant living under the
water

Roots are deep seated inside the soil They have developed vascular and root
system

Hardly ever shortage of light Light is a limiting factor

Three Kingdom Classification

The three-domain system was first introduced by Carl Woese in 1990 that is why its called Carl
Woese’s Classification. This classification system also is known as the Six Kingdoms and Three
Domains Classification because it divides the life forms into three domains and six kingdoms.

The three-domains of Carl Woese’s Classification system include archaea, bacteria, eukaryote, and
six kingdoms are Archaebacteria (ancient bacteria), Eubacteria (true bacteria), Protista, Fungi,
Plantae, Animalia.

This classification system divides the life based on the differences in the 16S ribosomal RNA
(rRNA) structure and as well as the cell’s membrane lipid structure and its sensitivity to
antibiotics.

The main difference from earlier classification systems is the splitting of archaea from bacteria.
Three Kingdom Classification

In this classification, Carl Woese used 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) as a

‘Chronometer’, because;
•It is universally distributed means it is present in all species.
•It is functionally similar in all organisms.
•It can change its sequence slowly.
•Its sequences can be aligned, or matched up, between 2 organisms.
Model Organisms

A model organism is a species that has been widely studied, usually because it is easy to maintain
and breed in a laboratory setting and has particular experimental advantages.

Characteristics of Model Organisms

1. Relatively short generation time (Birth → Reproduction → Birth).
2. Relatively easy to maintain and grow in a restricted space.
3. Relatively easy to provide necessary nutrients for growth.
4. Relatively well-understood development and growth.
5. Closely resemble other organisms or systems.
Thank You