Classification 1
Features used to sort organisms into groups include:
cell structure, body shape, skeletons and arrangement of internal organs.
The process of describing, classifying and naming organisms is called taxonomy.
Living things are first sorted into five large groups called kingdoms.
Kingdom Features
Prokaryote Unicellular (single-celled).
s Have a cell wall (but not made of cellulose).
(Bacteria) No nucleus – have a single circular chromosome.
Very simple cell structure.
Some can carry out photosynthesis.
Most feed off living or dead organisms.
Protoctists These organisms are unicellular or consist of simple groups of cells.
Some have the features of animal cells, e.g. Amoeba.
Others have chloroplasts and photosynthesise like plants, e.g. algae.
Amoeba Spirogyra (an alga)
2
Fungi Cannot photosynthesise.
Body is usually arranged in a network (mycelium) of thread-like
structures called hyphae. The hyphae contain many nuclei.
Have a cell wall – made of chitin.
Feed by secreting digestive enzymes onto food and absorbing the
small, soluble products of digestion. Examples:
yeast – a single-celled fungus:
moulds – have a hairy appearance and may grow on bread and fruit:
mushrooms and toadstools:
3
Plants Multicellular.
Many cells contain chloroplasts and can carry out photosynthesis.
Have cell walls made from cellulose.
Major groups within the plant kingdom include the:
mosses ferns
conifers flowering plants
Animals Multicellular.
No chloroplasts and therefore no photosynthesis.
No cell wall.
Have a nervous system which allows different parts of the body to
communicate rapidly.
Each kingdom is divided into groups called phyla (singular phylum).
The animal kingdom consists of eight phyla:
1. Cnidaria (coelenterates), e.g. jellyfish and sea anemones.
2. Flatworms, e.g. tapeworms 4
3. Roundworms
4. Ringed or segmented worms (annelids)
5. Molluscs, e.g. slugs, snails, mussels, octopus, squid
6. Echinoderms: tough, five-part symmetry, e.g. starfish, sea urchins 5
7. Arthropods: external skeleton and jointed legs, e.g. insects, arachnids (spiders
and scorpions), crustaceans, centipedes and millipedes
8. Chordates: includes the vertebrates (animals with backbones).
Each phylum is divided into classes.
e.g. the main classes in the Chordate phylum are:
bony fish, cartilaginous fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals.
Bony and cartilaginous fish: All fish have scales, fins and gills. The gills take
oxygen from the water. Fish lay eggs without shells.
6
Amphibians: No scales; skin not waterproof; live on land but in moist places to
avoid drying out; lay eggs (in water) without shells; larvae or tadpoles have
external gills; adults have lungs and grow legs.
Reptiles: Hard dry scales; most live on land; lay eggs on land; the eggs have
leathery waterproof shells to help stop them drying out.
Birds: Feathers; wings; beak; eggs have hard waterproof shells; warm-blooded
(endothermic) which means they can maintain a constant body temperature,
usually above that of the environment.
Mammals: Most do not lay eggs (with the exceptions of the duck-billed platypus
and echidna); have hair or fur; warm-blooded; have lungs; young feed on
mother’s milk.
Classes are divided into orders. 7
Orders are divided into families.
Families are divided into genera (singular: genus).
Genera are divided into species.
A species is a group of organisms which can interbreed and produce offspring which
themselves can interbreed.
The classification of humans:
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Chordata (Chordates)
Class Mammalia (Mammals)
Order Primates
Family Hominidae (Hominids)
Genus Homo
Species sapiens
The genus and species of an organism give us its scientific name.
e.g. human: Homo sapiens
upper case lower case
Conventionally, the names of species and genera are typed in italics, or underlined if
we are hand-writing.