TAXONOMY

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this session, you should be able to describe

the binomial system of nomenclature
 Classification of organisms

Classification is the grouping of

information or objects based on
similarities
 Think about classification that is
used in everyday life
 What would happen
if grocery stores did
not use a
classification
system?

 What about libraries,

movie stores,
department stores,
etc.?
 Classification of organisms

• The science of
classifying living
things known as
TAXONOMY.

• The system we used

today developed by
Carolus Linnaeus
(1750s).
• It is known as the system of binomial
nomenclature because every
organism has a two-part name.

What is it?
▪ uses two words (the genus name and
specific epithet) to name organisms
▪ Scientists avoid common names and
use Latin to avoid confusion
 Basic rule of binomial name
1st letter 1st letter
Italics of the
of the
when the name is printed species
genus
name is name is
upper- lower-
case case

1st name is 2nd name is

the genus the species
name name

Underlined
when the name is
handwritten
 Human

Homo sapiens
Asian rice

Oryza sativa
National flower of Malaysia
“Bunga Raya”

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis
 The chicken we know today:

Gallus domesticus
CAT
 Scientific
names
Felis chaus
Jungle cat
Felis nigripes
Felis bieti
Chinese desert cat
Felis catus
Black-footed cat Domestic cat

Wild cat

Felis margarita
Sand cat Felis silvestris
 Which of the following written
correctly?

A. Felis catus
B. Felis catus
C. felis catus
D. Felis catus
E. felis Catus
 The Linnaean hierarchy
• Linnaeus classified every
organism into a hierarchy or
levels of organization.

• A group of organisms at a
particular level in a classification
system is called a taxon (plural,
taxa).
 Levels of Classification
• 7 levels known as taxa (sing. taxon)
➢Kingdom
➢Phylum
➢Class
➢Order
➢Family
➢Genus
➢Species
• King Philip Can Order For German Students
• Come up with your own mnemonic for the 7
taxa
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora
• Family: Felidae
• Genus: Felis
Felis catus
• Species: Felis catus
Domestic cat
a taxon (plural: taxa)

taxa
 A Closer Look at the Taxa

• As one goes from the Kingdom to the Species (DOWNWARD)… An

increase in the similarity between organisms occur
• There are fewer numbers of different kinds of organisms
• (Vice versa)