COR JESU COLLEGE

BASIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Sacred Heart Avenue, Digos City

Worksheet 8: Taxonomy and Phylogeny of Animals

Name: Section: Date: March 24, 2020

Animal Classification using a Dichotomous Key

Background:
Classification of animals is a way to group them based on similar traits. This is an
important way to see how animals are related to each other. They are separated into groups using
traits or characteristics (like whether they have a backbone or not). The way we classify animals
and plants was created by a scientist named Linnaeus.
The Linnaeus system classifies plants and animals on seven levels, using Latin and Greek
words. With the development of genome science, the biological connection between animals is
beginning to alter and animals are being more accurately classified. The classic Linnaeus system
which can be shown in the following way.
All living things are classified on the seven levels:
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species
An example of how this works in an Eastern Chipmunk is:
Kingdom Animalia animal
Phylum Chordata has backbone
Class Mammalia has backbone, nurses young
Order Rodentia has backbone, nurses young, long, sharp front teeth
Family Scuridae has backbone, nurses young, long, sharp front teeth, bushy tail
Genus Tamias has backbone, nurses young, long, sharp front teeth, bushy tail, climbs
trees
Species striatus has backbone, nurses young, long, sharp front teeth, bushy tail, climbs
trees, stripes
Using a Dichotomous Key to Identify Organisms
A dichotomous key is a tool used by biologists to identify organisms in a group through a
process of answering yes or no questions about the organism. Dichotomous means ‘divided into
two parts’, as each question about an organism has two choices. There are dichotomous keys to
identify animals, insects, plants and many other things. When a question is answered, then two
more choices are presented until there are no more choices to be made and you have identified
the organism. By following the dichotomous key on the next page and making the right choices,
you will be able to identify the organisms numbered 1-12 in the attached pictures.
Directions:
1. Study the twelve animals pictured in the last page of this worksheet.
2. Describe each animal next to its corresponding number in this worksheet based on the
characteristics as presented in the dichotomous key.
3. Use the Dichotomous Key to identify each of the twelve animals in the pictures.
a. Start with question #1, and answer the question about the animal. Based upon your
answer to question #1, you will go to another question.
b. Once you go to the next question you are directed to, answer that question.
c. Continue this process until you have identified the animal.
d. Return to Question 1 and repeat process to identify each new picture/animal.
4. Write the name of the animal next to its corresponding number and descriptions from #2.
DICHOTOMOUS KEY
1. Do you have a backbone?yes
Yes – Go to number 3
No -you are an insect – Go to number 2
2. Do you change (metamorphosis) from a caterpillar to your adult form?
Yes -you are a butterfly!
No -you are a grasshopper!
3. Do you have gills and scales?No
Yes -you are a fish!
No – Go to number 4
4. Do you lay eggs?No
Yes – Go to number 5
No – Go to number 10
5. Do you have feathers?
Yes -you are a bird!
No – Go to number 6
6. Do you lay eggs in the water?
Yes – Go to number 7
No –Go to number 8
7. Do you live on land but come back to the water to lay your eggs?
Yes – Go to number 9
No -you are a pickerel frog!
8. Do you have a protective shell?
Yes -you are a turtle!
No -you are a snake!
9. Do you have lots of warty bumps and no tail?
Yes -you are a toad!
No -you are a newt (red eft)
10. Are you a carnivore (eat meat)? Yes
Yes -you are a fox
No, Go to number 11
11. Are you an omnivore?
Yes -you are a raccoon!
No -you are an herbivore – Go to number 12
12. Are you a rodent?
Yes -you are a squirrel!
No -you are a moose!
 1. Butterfly
Butterflies belong to the subphylum Hexapoda, or six-legged arthropods,
and in the class Insecta, the insects. Finally, all butterflies are in the order
Lepidoptera, which means "scale wing," along with skippers and moths.
2. Pickrel frog
The pickerel frog (Lithobates palustris, formerly Rana palustris) is a
small North American frog, characterized by the appearance of seemingly "hand-
drawn" squares on its dorsal surface.
3. Turtle
Turtles are classified as amniotes, along with other reptiles, birds, and
mammals. Like other amniotes, turtles breathe air and do not lay eggs
underwater, although many species live in or around water.
4. Newt

Newts are semi-aquatic amphibians that look a bit like a combination of

a frog and a lizard. Like frogs, they have smooth, moist skin. As adults, they have
long tails like lizards. Sometimes people refer to newts as salamanders, and that's
true.5. Bird

6. Snake
Snakes are members of the class Reptilia and order Squamata (scaled
reptiles). Squamata is made up of the suborders Serpentes (snakes) and Sauria
(lizards). Snakes are the most recently evolved group of reptiles.
7. Grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They
are among what is probably the most ancient living group of chewing
herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years
ago.

8. Fox
Foxes have a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly
upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or brush). Twelve species belong to the
monophyletic "true foxes" group of genus Vulpes.
9. Moose
The moose belongs to the class Mammalia because all mammals have hair
or fur, breathe through lungs, and they produce milk for their young.
10. Squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or
medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground
squirrels, chipmunks, marmots (including groundhogs), flying squirrels,
and prairie dogs amongst other rodents.
11. Toad
common toad, European toad, or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply
the toad (Bufo bufo, from Latin bufo "toad"), is an amphibian found throughout
most of Europe
The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the
day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for
the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow, ungainly walk or short
jumps, and has greyish-brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.
12. Raccoon
Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as
raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon (P. lotor), is
often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only
to the tropics and less well known.
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