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Understanding Taxonomy and Classification

Taxonomy is the classification and naming of living organisms, established by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century, and organized into a hierarchical system. It includes various ranks such as domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species, each with specific definitions. The highest rank is the domain, which categorizes all life into three groups: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

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10 views4 pages

Understanding Taxonomy and Classification

Taxonomy is the classification and naming of living organisms, established by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century, and organized into a hierarchical system. It includes various ranks such as domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species, each with specific definitions. The highest rank is the domain, which categorizes all life into three groups: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya.

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jessica
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Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the study of the classification and scientific naming of


living things. It is the system we use to understand how living things
relate to each other.

The modern system of classification was founded by Carl Linnaeus in


the early 18th century, and later modified by other scientists,
especially as advances in microscopy revealed key differences among
organisms at the cellular level.

The system places all organisms in a hierarchy which goes from a


very general all-encompassing category through various levels to the
highly specific subspecies who will have a very precise set of
characteristics.

Can you label the following diagram correctly, putting the


, or ranks, in order, starting with the most
general category at the bottom?

life

class domain family


genus kingdom life order
phylum species
Classification
Match the following taxonomical terms to the correct meaning.

class a group of organisms that can reproduce


naturally with one another and create
fertile offspring

domain a rank used in the biological taxonomy of


all organisms, 4th in the hierarchy after

family a realm or province of nature, especially


one of the main broad divisions of natural
objects animals, plants, fungi, protozoa
and eukaryotic algae and bacteria

genus a taxonomic category of the highest


rank, just above kingdom, grouping
together all forms of life having certain
fundamental characteristics in common

kingdom a taxonomic rank comprised of families


sharing a set of similar characteristics

order the branch of science concerned with


classification, especially of organisms

phylum the major subdivision of a family or


subfamily

species the primary subdivision of a taxonomic


kingdom, grouping together all classes of
organism that have the same basic body
plan

taxonomy the usual major subdivision of an order


or suborder in the classification system
Binomial Nomenclature

Every species of organism has a unique


scientific name under the binomial
nomenclature system. Why is it known as a
binomial system?

What makes up the scientific name of each


organism?

How are scientific names written?


Domains

The highest taxonomic rank is the domain.


We can classify all living things into three domains.

Archaea

Bacteria

Eukarya

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