History of Classification

Pre- Linnaean Taxonomy

 3000 BC
 Shen Nung (Pharmacopeia)
 Father of Chinese Medicine
 Introduced Acupuncture
 Divine Husbandman’s Materia Medica
365 Species (Animals, minerals and
plants)
1500 BC
Egyptian Paintings
Medicinal plants of
ancient Egypt
Ebers Papyrus
Local names “Celery of
the delta”
The Greeks and Romans

 384-322 BC
 Aristotle
 Water, air and land dwelling
 With blood and without blood
 Live bearing and egg bearing
 Trees shrubs and herbs
370- 285 BC
Theophrastus
De Historia
Plantarum
(480 species)
Used until
the middle
ages
40 -90 AD
Dioscorides
De Materia Medica
 600 Species of plants
 classification were
based on their medicinal
properties
23-79 AD
Plinius
Roman statesman
Naturalis Historia
Latin names
Father of Botanical Latin
 1583
Cesalpino
The first taxonomist
De Plantis (1500 Species)
Classification based from habit, fruit and
seed

Early Taxonomist
1623
Bauhin Brothers
Pinax Theatri
Botanicci (6000
species)
Synonym names
of plants
Recognized
genera and species
 1682
John Ray
Species as the
ultimate unit of
taonomy
Methodus
Plantarum Nova
(18,000)
Classification is
based from
combined
Characters
 1700
 Joseph Pitton de
Tournefort
 The rule before
Linnaeus
 Institutiones Rei
Herbariae in 1700
 9000 species in 698
genera
 Floral characters
Linnaean Era

 1753 -1758
 Carl Linnaeus
 Species Plantarum
 Systema Naturae
 Trivial Names – field work
 Trivial names evolved into binomial nomencalture
 1735 Critica Botanica (rulebook)
  Botanical Anarchy – Otto Kuntze
(1891)
Revisio Generum Plantarum
Changed generic names of over
1000 organisms and over 3000
species
Post Linnaean Gave rise to the code of
Era Botanical Nomenclature
Set 1753 as the starting point
reference (nomina conservanda)
 1907- Americans Allowed tautonyms
 1935- International Code of Botanical
Nomenclature
 1842
 British ornithologist Hugh Edwin
Strickland
 First nomenclature laws for
zoology
 Strickland Code
 Charles Darwin Became a
Committee member
 Modified in 1881 and made the
code applicable to fossils
Botanical and Zoological Changes

Zoology –
International
Botany- International
Commission of
Botanical Congress
zoological
nomenclature
 Kingdoms of Life

 Linnaeus –two system

classification (Living
things)
 One system for non
living things (regnum
Lapideum)
 Ernst Haeckel

1866, proposed a third kingdom of

life, which he called Protista, and
included all unicellular organisms in
it
 the development of optic and
electronic microscopy showed
important differences in cells
 presence or absence of distinct
nucleus
 Édouard Chatton distinguish
organisms in prokaryotes (without a
distinct nucleus) and eukaryotes
(with a distinct nucleus) in 1925.
4-Kingdom system

 Herbert Copeland proposed a four-

kingdom system, moving prokaryotic
organisms, bacteria and “blue-green
algae”, into the kingdom Monera.
 life was separated in two empires or
superkingdoms, Prokaryota (Monera)
and Eukaryota (Protista, Plantae,
Animalia).
1969, Robert Whittaker proposed a fifth
kingdom, called Kingdom Fungi.

This five-kingdom system remained

constant for some time; Monera were
prokaryotes; Plantae were multicellular
autotrophs , Animalia multicellular
heterotrophs; and Fungi multicellular
saprotrophs and Protista (TB).
 Carl Woese divided Prokaryota in
Eubacteria and Archaeobacteria,
emphasizing that the differences between
those two were as high as the ones between
them and the eukaryotes.
 This later gave rise to a new higher
classification of life in three domains,
Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya.
 Thomas Cavalier-Smith, created a new model with 6
kingdoms.
 Bacteria and Archea were put together in the same
kingdom, called Bacteria.
 Chromista- Alveolates, Heterokonts or Stramenopiles
and Rhizarians.
 Protozoa, including Amoebozoa, Choanozoa and a
set of flagellated protozoa called Excavata
Early Taxonomic Systems

 Carolus Linnaeus (1753)- use of a species name

 Based on looking at physical and structural similarities
 Revealed relationships of organisms

 Binomial nomenclature
 Gave each species 2 names (scientific name)
 Genus and species
 Genus is a group of similar species

 Developed the modern system of taxonomy

 Latin was the language used (no longer used and is not being changed)
Genus name always capitalized
species name always lowercase
both names MUST be underlined or italicized
Ex: Canis lupus (wolf)

Ex: Homo sapiens (human)

 Ex: Felis domesticus
(housecat)
 Felis domesticus var.
Indicates more
than one variety
Scientific names are often:
Descriptive (Acer rubrum red maple)
Named after someone (genus Linnea)
Descriptive of where an organism lives (D. californica)
Named after person who first described the organism (D.
californica Torr)
Many organisms have common names
Can be misleading
Can have more than 1 common name, depending on the area it is
found in
Modern Taxonomy

 Now based on evolutionary relationships

 Taxonomists study:
 Structural similarities
 Chromosomal structure (karyotypes)
 Reproductive potential
 Biochemical similarities
 Comparing DNA and amino acids
 Embryology/development
 Breeding behavior
 Geographic distribution
7 taxonomic categories:

Kingdom  largest, most general group

Phylum  called a division with plants
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species  smallest and most specific group

 Grouped genera into families, families into orders, orders into classes, classes into phyla, and phyla
into kingdoms
 Species can interbreed with each other
The Six Kingdoms of
Organisms

 Prokaryotes:
 Microscopic
 Prokaryotic (Lack a nucleus)
 Can be autotrophs (photosynthetic or
chemosynthetic) or heterotrophs
 Unicellular
 2 kingdoms (Archaebacteria and
Eubacteria)
 Archaebacteria live in extreme
environments like swamps, deep-
ocean hydrothermal vents (oxygen-
free environments)
Cell walls not made of peptidoglycan
Ex: Methanogens, Halophiles
 Eubacteria live in most habitats
Cell walls made of peptidoglycan
Ex: E. coli, Streptococcus,
cyanobacteria
 The Six Kingdoms
of Organisms
 Protista
 Eukaryotic (has a nucleus)
 Some have cell walls of cellulose
 Some have chloroplasts
 Can be autotrophs or heterotrophs
(some can be fungus-like)
 Most are unicellular; some are
multicellular or colonial
 Ex: amoeba, paramecium, slime
molds, euglena, kelp
 Lacks complex organ systems
 Lives in moist environments
 The Six Kingdoms
of Organisms

 Fungi
 Eukaryotes
 Cell walls of chitin
 Heterotrophs
 Most multicellular; some
unicellular
 Ex: mushrooms, yeast
 Absorbs nutrients from organic
materials in the environment
 Stationary
 The Six Kingdoms
of Organisms

Plants
 Eukaryotes
 Cell walls of cellulose
 Autotrophs
 Multicellular
 Photosynthetic contains
chloroplasts
 Ex: mosses, ferns, trees, flowering
plants
 Cannot move ---?
 Tissues and organ systems
 The Six Kingdoms of Organisms

Animalia
 Eukaryotes
 Do not have a cell wall or
chloroplasts
 Heterotrophs
 Multicellular
 Ex: sponges, worms, insects,
fish, mammals (nurse young)
 Mobile