CLASSIFICATION

Chapter 3
 MISLEADING ANIMAL NAMES
The seahorse is the common
name referring to any of the 54
species of marine fishes
belonging to the genus
Hippocampus.

Mountain goats are not A prairie dog is not a dog but a

true goats-but they are rodent that is named so for its
close relatives. They are warning call that sounds like the
more properly known as bark of a dog. Prairie dogs are
goat-antelops herbivorous by nature and
inhabit the North American Killer Whale is not a true
grasslands. whale but a sea creature
The koala bear is also one of belonging to the oceanic
the animals with the most dolphin family, the killer whale
misleading names ever. It is not is also known as an orca.
related to bears in any way but
Starfish are actually not
is actually a marsupial that is
fish but marine
native to Australia.
invertebrates.
CHAPTER 3 CLASSIFICATION 2
 To avoid confusion caused by regional names,
biologists use a classification system to group
organisms. Classification is the process of
arranging organisms, both living and extinct,
into groups based on similar characteristics.
The science of naming and classifying
organisms is called taxonomy.

CHAPTER 3 CLASSIFICATION 3
 Classification of living things is done to make it easier to identify, compare,
and study living things.

The purpose of classifying organism :

1. Grouping living things based on similarities and differences in their

characteristics;

2. Describe the characteristics of a type of organism to distinguish it from

organism of other types;

3. Knowing the relationship between living things;

4. Naming an unknown organism

CHAPTER 3 CLASSIFICATION 4
 Types of Classifications
NATURAL CLASSIFICATIONS
o The natural classification was
introduced by Aristotle. Aristotle
divided living things into two
groups: plants and animals.
Aristotle divided animals into
several groups based on their
habitat and behavior. While
plants are grouped based on size
and structure. Examples of plants
are divided into 3 divisions :
herbs, shrubs, and trees. The
natural classification based on
the number of similarities in
morphological, anatomical,
physiological characteristics
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ARTIFICIAL
CLASSIFICATIONS
o Introduced by Carl Von Linne.
In artificial classification
systems, the categories of
organisms are based on the
presence of one/little
similarity of morphological
characteristic
o Artificial classification groups
plants on the basis of flower
color, flower mass, leaf shape,
and number of stamens. This
classification system is called
the sexual system because
Linnaeus focused on the
reproductive organs of plants.
presentation title
PHYLOGENETIC (PHYLETIC)
CLASSIFICATIONS
o Phylogenetic classification system
is based on the evolutionary
ancestry or on the similarity in
their evolution relationship
o It is based on the evolution of
life and shows the genetic
relationships among organisms. It
generates trees called
cladograms, which are groups of
organisms that include an
ancestor species and its
descendants. Classifying
organisms on the basis of descent
from a common ancestor is called
phylogenetic classification.
5
 Stages in Classification
IDENTIFY THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF LIVING THINGS
o The first process in
classification is the
identification of the
characteristics of organisms.
Starting from the
characteristics that are visible
and easy to observe such as
morphological, anatomical
and physiological. For
example, the shape and
number of wings, the shape
and number of legs, body
color, the number of thorax
and abdomen.
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GROUPING BASED ON
CHARACTERISTICS
o Living things are grouped
based on similarities or
differences in characteristics.
Examples of chickens, ducks
and pigeons are grouped
into one group because they
have similar characteristics.
These characteristics include
the body covered by
feathers, breathing with
lungs, having lungs, having a
beak, a heart consisting of
four chambers and having
wings.
presentation title
TAXON NAMING
o After organisms are
grouped based on their
characteristics, the next
process is naming the
taxon of the group. For
example, ducks, chickens
and pigeons are grouped
into birds or aves. lizards
and crocodiles are grouped
into reptiles. After naming
and grouping them into
taxon, a classification
system is developed.
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 Carolus Linnaeus
Swedish botanist

Carl Linnaeus also known after his ennoblement in

1761 as Carl Von Linne, was a Swedish botanist,
zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalized
Binomial Nomenclature, the modern system of
naming organisms. He is known as the “Father of
Modern Taxonomy”. He designed the system so as to
differentiate species from one to the other.

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 BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
Binomial (Bi refers to two and nomial refers to name) nomenclature is the method of
providing an organism a specific identity as two names as Genus and Species. These are
names generally adopted from the Latin language.

How does Binomial Nomenclature Work?

Binomial Nomenclature is formulated under certain rules by different scientists or
scientific communities. These names are based on different codes made by different
committees such as

• International Code for Botanical Nomenclature for Plants

• International Code for Zoological Nomenclatures for Animals
• International Code for Nomenclature of Bacteria
• International Code of Virus Classification Nomenclature
• International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivable plants and others.
 Rules of Binomial Nomenclature
1. The names should contain two words.
2. The names should be derived or adopted from the Latin language.
3. The first word or generic name is be based on the genus of the organism.
4. The second word or specific epithet is based on the species of the organism.
5. The first letter of the generic name should be capital and the first letter of the
species name should be small.
6. A space is kept between two names.
7. The names should be in an italic form in print or soft copy. Eg. Homo sapiens.
8. The names should be underlined separately in case of handwritten notes. Eg. Homo
sapiens.
9. Author name can also be included and in that case, the author name’s abbreviation
is written after species name with a space. For eg. Mangifera indica Linn. where
Linn represents Carolus Linnaeus.
10.If the first name given to any organism follows all the rules of binomial
nomenclature then it is considered a valid name and the priority name even if
other names are given later. The names given later will only be considered as a
synonym. It is called the priority law.
Taxonomic Hierarchy
The level of classification of life

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Kingdom : Plantae
Division : Angiospermae Kingdom: Fungi
Class : Dycotiledonae Division: Basidiomycota
Order : Asterales Class: Homobasidiomycetes
Family : Asteraceae Order: Agaricales
Genus : Helianthus L. Family: Pluteaceae
Species : Helianthus annuus L Genus: Volvariella
Species: Volvariella volvacea

In Plant
Class : ….nae
Kingdom : Animalia Order : … ales
Phylum : Chordata Family : … ceae
Class : Mammalia
Order : Carnivora
Family : Ursidae In Animal
Genus : Ailuropoda Family : … dae
Species : Ailuropoda melanoleuca

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 THE KINGDOM OF LIFE

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 5 Kingdoms of Classification:
In 1969, Robert H. Whitaker classified kingdoms based on cellular organization and mode of
nutrition
this lead to the formation of the 5 kingdoms

MONERA :
• comprised of bacteria and cyanobacteria
• distinguished by being single cell prokaryotes
PROTIST :
• comprised of Amoeba, Paramecium etc
• distinguished by being single celled eukaryotes
FUNGI :
• multi-cellular heterotrophic eukaryotes
• fungi have cell walls and usually non-motile
• digest organic matter extra-cellularly (outside of cell) and absorb the breakdown
products
PLANTAE :
• multi-cellular photosynthetic eukaryotes
• plants have cell walls and are non-motile
ANIMALIA:
• multi-cellular heterotrophic eukaryotes
• animal cells lack a cell wall and usually motile
• feed by ingesting other organisms or parts of other organisms
 DOMAINS???

Many taxonomists have pushed the idea that

the five kingdom system isn’t enough
they feel that organisms share too much
similarities and need to be grouped otherwise
the push has led to the addition of 3
domains :

1. Archae : bacteria that live in extreme

conditions
2. Eubacteria : “true bacteria”
3. Eukarya : all eukaryotic organisms
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 OLD SYSTEM

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Domain Archaea Domain Eubacteria Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Protist

Amoeba Paramecium Giardia

Water Mold Slime Mold

Euglena Diatom
Dinoflagellates Green Algae Brown Algae
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Plantae

Bryophyte Pteridophyte
(Moss) (Fern)

Pteridophyte
(Fern)

Coniferophytes
(Pine Trees) Angiosperm; Angiosperm;
Dicot Monocot
 Dichotomous key

► Used to help identify unknown specimen

► Work by asking yes or no questions whose
answers lead the reader to the correct taxa
for the organism
The End