CO QAH + MELC LW

Course Outline & Quality Assured HANDOUT No. 6

Handouts paired with MELC- Based in GENERAL BIOLOGY 2
Learner’s Worksheet

MELC: 10. identify the unique/distinctive characteristics of a specific taxon relative to other taxa (STEM_BIO11/12IIIhj-
15)
11. describe species diversity and cladistics, including the types of evidence and procedures that can be used to
establish evolutionary relationships (STEM_BIO11/12IIIhj-16)

Semester: 1 Week No. 6 Day: 1-4

LESSON 1: BASIC TAXONOMIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES, DESCRIPTION,

NOMENCLATURE, IDENTIFICATION, AND CLASSIFICATION

In this lesson, you will be able to learn about the unique/distinctive characteristics of specific taxon relative
to other taxa. The discussion merely focused on Linnaeus’s system of Classification.

Topic 1: LINNAEU’S SYSTEM OF CLASSIFICATION

In Taxonomy, a group or level or organization is called a taxonomic category, or a taxon (plural: taxa).
Linnaeus’s system of classification uses seven taxa, which are arranged in logical order from most general
(Kingdom) to the most specific (species): Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. In
interpreting the taxon hierarchy, the similarity among organisms is inversely proportional to the number of
species. For example, if you go higher in the Linnaean hierarchy of taxa, expect a decrease in similarities
among organisms, but expect an increase in the number of organisms that belong to that taxon. On the other
hand, if you go lower in the Linnaean hierarchy of taxa, expect an increase in similarities among organisms,
but expect a decrease in the number of organisms in that taxon.

Figure 1. Hierarchy of taxa in the Linnaean system of classification. Note that the addition of the domain
taxon is not present because it would be introduced a century later.
Decrease in number
Increase in similarity
Decrease in similarity
Increase in number

Figure 1. Hierarchy of taxa in the Linnaean system of classification (“Classification,”

CAD Community Classroom, 2021)

KINGDOM
The kingdom is the largest and most inclusive among the Linnaean taxa. During Linnaeus’s time, he only
classified two kingdoms, namely, kingdom Animalia and Kingdom Plantae. This taxon has the greater variety
of organisms. Kingdoms deal with the main division where all organisms on Earth are classified. It includes
the following: eubacteria, archaebacteria, fungi, plants, and animals. The classification of this taxon is based
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mainly on structure. Kingdoms consist of different phyla.

PHYLUM
Kingdoms are made up of different phyla (singular: phylum). Phylum is one of the major taxa used in
classifying organisms. This taxon includes many different organisms that share important characteristics,
which include their body plans. For example, Phylum Chordata is composed of different organisms with
vertebrae. This phylum consists of one or more similar classes. The word division is a counterpart of phylum,
which is more commonly used in plants.
CLASS
A class is a subdivision of a phylum. It is a taxon that broadly includes the major organisms that are
distinct from other organisms internally and externally. For example, class Mammalia includes animals that
are warm-blooded, can produce milk for their young, and have body hair. A class is composed of similar
orders.

ORDER
An order is a broad taxon compose of a number of similar families. In this taxon, organisms are
generally classified based on their characteristics. Animals are classified as carnivores, herbivores, or
primates.

FAMILY
A family is a taxon that includes one or more genera that share a common phylogenetic origin. This
consists of a number of genera with similar characters. This designates a category of classification that is
fairly precise.

GENUS
A genus is a taxon that includes one or more species with common phylogenetic traits. This is used
as the first part of the scientific name.

SPECIES
The species is the basic unit of classification. This is used as the specific epithet in the scientific
name. This taxon is made up of organisms that can both interbreed and produce fertile offspring.

Figure 2. Identifying organisms using the Linnaean system of

classification (“Toppr-Guides,” Toppr-guides, May 23, 2018)

DIFFERENT KINDOM CLASSIFICATIONS

Two-Kingdom Classification
The two-kingdom system of classification was first established by Aristotle, in which he divided
organisms into plants and animals based on his observations. He then divided these big groups further into
subgroups. Animal subgroups are based on their habitat (land, air, and water), and plant subgroups are
based on their size (small, medium, large). His version of the two-kingdom system was used for 2 000 years
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until Carl Linnaeus published his improved version of the two-kingdom system in the 1700s, which divided the
kingdoms into five levels: class, order, genus, species, and variety. Organisms were classified based on their
traits, including similarities in their body parts, their size, their shape, and their method of getting food.

Figure 3. The two-kingdom system of classification

In the two-kingdom classification system, those that are stationary and depend only on the sun to
produce their own food are generally categorized as plants, and those that move and get energy from other
organisms are called animals. However, people eventually started to wonder about the organisms that cannot
be strictly classified as plants or animals. For example, a mushroom is stationary but it cannot make its own
food. Based on locomotion, it could be classified as a plant because it cannot move. However, it still cannot
be strictly classified as a plant because it cannot make its own food. This allowed scientist to dig deeper into
the study of classifying organisms.

Three-Kingdom Classification
Due to the invention of lenses and microscopes, scientist have been able to study organisms that are
too small to be seen by the unaided eye. Scientists found out that microorganisms are strikingly different from
plants and animals. Thus, the two-kingdom classification scheme was revised into a three-kingdom
classification scheme accommodate microorganisms. The use of microscope also helped scientists such as
the German naturalist Ernst Haeckel to introduce Kingdom Protista. Haeckel grouped placed the microscopic,
unicellular organisms that have intermediate characteristics of plants and animals under Kingdom Protista.

Four-Kingdom Classification
Further developments in microscopy led the French marine biologist Edouard Chatton to introduce the
term prokaryotes and eukaryotes. He defined prokaryotes as organisms without nuclei in their cells and
eukaryotes as those with nuclei. This enabled the establishment of the so-called empires (which is a
precursor to the domain system), from this establishment, Herbert Copeland, an American biologist, proposed
the four-kingdom classification scheme. He grouped all prokaryotes under kingdom Monera.

Prokaryota Monera

Protista

Eukaryota Animalia

Plantae

Figure 4. The so-called two-empire system was established upon the creation of the four-kingdom system of classification. Empire Prokaryota
includes Kingdom Monera, and empire Eukaryota includes Kingdom Protista, Kingdom Plantae, and Kingdom Animalia.

Five-Kingdom Classification
In 1969, Robert Whittaker, an American ecologist, introduced Kingdom Fungi, which includes
stationary organism that are not photosynthetic. With this addition, he had proposed the five-kingdom
classification scheme. He based his scheme on the similarities and differences of body forms, the manner of
obtaining nutrients, cell structure, and pattern of development. The five-kingdom scheme is summarized in
table 6.1

Prokaryota Monera

Protista

Eukaryota Fungi

Animalia

Plantae
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 Figure 5. In the five-Kingdom classification system, Kingdom Fungi is added under Empire Eukaryota.

Table 1. Characteristics of the different Kingdoms under the five-Kingdom classification system
Characteristics Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
Type Prokaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic
Cell wall and its Present; Present only in Present; Present; Absent
composition (if composed of some composed of composed of
present) polysaccharides organisms chitin cellulose
and amino acids
Nuclear Absent Present Present Present Present
membrane
Level of Cell (unicellular) Cell (unicellular, Cell organism organism
organization some are (unicellular, (multicellular) (multicellular)
colonial or some are
multicellular) colonial
forms);
organism
(multicellular)
Mode of Some are Autotrophic Heterotrophic Autotrophic Heterotrophic
nutrition autotrophic (photosynthetic) (saprophytic (photosynthetic)
(chemosynthetic or heterotrophic or parasitic)
or (some are
photosynthetic), parasitic)
and some are
heterotrophic
(saprophytic or
parasitic)

Six-Kingdom Classification
With the dawn of molecular studies in the 1970s, a group of scientists led by Carl Woese proposed
that Kingdom Monera can be further divided into Kingdom Eubacteria and Kingdom Archaebacteria. The
organisms under the newly discovered Kingdom Archaebacteria have a distinct plasma membrane and cell
wall. They also have genetic materials that resembled humans and eukaryotes more than that of other
prokaryotes.

Prokaryota Eubacteria

Archaebacteria

Protista

Eukaryota Fungi

Animalia

Plantae

Figure 6. In the six-kingdom classification system, Kingdom Monera is now divided into Kingdom Eubacteria and Kingdom Archaebacteria.

Eight-Kingdom Classification
Due to the face-paced advancement of technology, scientist have proposed numerous ways to
classify organisms in a more specific approach. One of these proposed classification schemes is the eight-
kingdom scheme. In this scheme, kingdom Protista is subdivided into Kingdom Archezoa, Kingdom Protozoa,
and Kingdom Chromista. However, this proposed classification scheme has yet to gain widespread universal
acceptance.

Table 2. Timeline of the different Kingdom classification systems

First
Introduce Kingdoms
d
1700s Protista Plantae Animalia
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 1800s Protista Animalia
1960s Monera Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
1970s Archaebacteria Eubacteria Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia
1990s Archaebacteria Eubacteria Archezoa Protozoa Protista Fungi Plantae Animalia

Three-domain System
In 1990, further technological advancements such as genetic sequencing led Carl Woese to discover
that Kingdom Archaebacteria and Kingdom Eubacteria are genetically distinct from each other. These two
groups are so distinct that they should not even be classified together as kingdoms under Empire Prokaryota,
but as under separate domains. This enabled him to establish the three-domain system of classification,
which replaced the two-empire system: Kingdom Eubacteria is now classified under Domain Bacteria;
Kingdom Archaebacteria is now classified under Domain Archaea; and Kingdom Eukaryota became Domain
Eukarya. These domains are considered as the main branches of a universal common ancestor that existed
since the beginning of life, and reflects the current evidence of evolutionary relationships among various
organisms. Figure 7. shows the three-domain classification system, which is also called the phylogenetic tree
of life.

Figure 7. Phylogenetic tree of life “Phylogenetic Trees and Geologic

Time (Organismal Biology,” Gatech.edu, 2021)

The domain classification system is based on molecular analyses, primarily from the sequencing of
genes. Looking at figure 6.7 note that Domain Bacteria and Domain archaea diverged early on in the
evolution of life. They are considered to be the most ancestral in form. Domain Eukarya branched off from the
lineage of Archaea, leading to an enormous variety of life-forms. Domain Bacteria includes Kingdom
Eubacteria; Domain Archaea includes Kingdom Archaebacteria; and Domain Eukarya includes Kingdoms
Plantae, Protista, Animalia, and Fungi.
Here are the present descriptions of the three-domain system and the kingdoms under these domains.

DOMAIN BACTERIA

The members of Domain Bacteria are the organisms

under Kingdom Eubacteria. They are unicellular,
prokaryotic organisms. They have thick and rigid cell
Members under Domain Archaea includes Kingdom
walls composed of a substance known as Archaebacteria. Like the organisms under Domain
peptidoglycan. The organisms under this domain are Bacteria, all of its members are unicellular and
ecologically diverse- they can be found in the soil, the prokaryotic. They have cell walls and lack
atmosphere, your intestines, and even on your skin. peptidoglycan and their cell membranes have lipids
Some can produce food through photosynthesis. that are not found in other organisms. Member of this
Some of them thrive in the presence of oxygen. Most domain live in extreme environments such as volcanic
are beneficial to humans, but some are harmful and hot springs, brine pools, black organic mud, and even
pathogenic. Escherichia coli, a representative the Dead sea. (So, this means that the Dead sea is
organism under this domain, is shown in figure 8. not dead at all!). Many of organisms under Domain
Archaea
Figurethrive under
8. Escherichia conditionsColiwithout
coli (“Escherichia - the Schooloxygen.
of
Some of these organisms
Biomedical alsoNcl.ac.uk,
Sciences Wiki,” create 2017)
their own food
through photosynthesis. An archaebacteria DOMAIN ARCHAEAknown as
Halobacterium salinarium is shown in figure 9.
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 Figure 9. Halobacterium salinarium (Harman Patil, “Halobacterium
- Alchetron, the Free Social Encyclopedia,” Alchetron.com, August
18, 2017)

DOMAIN EUKARYA

Domain Eukarya derives its name from the eukaryotic cells of the organisms included in this domain. Being
eukaryotic is the main feature that unites Kingdom Protista, Fungi, Plantae, and Animalia into this Domain.

Kingdom Protista
Among all the members of Domain Eukarya, protists
are most biologically diverse. There are different groups of
protists that cannot be classified as plants, animals, or fungi;
thus, they are called plantlike, animal-like, and fungal-like
protist. Most protists are unicellular, but some are colonial or
multicellular. Some of them can be photosynthetic. Because,
of their great variety, members of kingdom Protista need
more advanced classification. Examples of unicellular protist
are Euglena, Paramecium, and amoeba while a multicellular
protist are red algae and slime molds.

Kingdom Fungi
Members of Kingdom Fungi cannot make their own
food. They can only absorb their food from their surroundings
into their bodies. In doing so, they secrete digestive enzymes
into their food source so they can easily absorb the
necessary nutrients. Some are unicellular, but most fungi are
multicellular. The most common fungi are mushroom,
unicellular fungi include yeast. Figure 10. shows major groups of fungi.
Figure 10. major groups of fungi (7 (17.16) Distinguish between
the five groups of fungi - ACP Biology Project, “7 (17.16)
Kingdom Plantae
Members of kingdom Plantae include all plants. They are multicellular organisms that create their own
food by photosynthesis. They cannot move from one place to another. They have cell walls composed of
cellulose. They are very diverse in size, ranging from the small mosses to the large and tall pine trees. Plants
are essential to humans and other organisms because they are used as source of food, medicine, and even
habitat.

Kingdom Animalia
Members of Kingdom Animalia are multicellular and heterotrophic. Animal Cells o not have cell walls.
Most of them can move, although a few are nonmotile in their adult forms such as sponges. They have
various ways of obtaining their nutrition. Many animal species exist in nearly every part of the planet.

Topic 2: SPECIES DIVERSITY AND CLADISTICS

Life on Earth has been constantly changing since it began several billion years ago. These
changes have led to the variety of organisms all around us. To date, biologists have identified and
named at least 1.5 million species. This number is just small compared to the species that have yet
to be discovered. Interestingly, at least 13 000 new species are identified each year.
Classifying organisms is as old as the time when humans learned their language. Early
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human civilizations tried to distinguish edible from poisonous plants. This early form of classifications
was important as it communicated to other humans which plants are safe to eat.

BIG IDEA: Classification is an important tool that has many uses. When you group things using your
own set of criteria, you are performing the process of classification.

PHYLOGENY
Classification systems used by modern taxonomists are based on many evolutionary clues.
These clues do not only come from the internal and external anatomy of organisms- they also
include patterns of embryological development and molecular biochemistry. Organisms are now
grouped into categories that represent lines of evolutionary descent in this modern approach,
species placed within the same genus should be more closely related to one another than to species
of any other genera. Genera placed within a family should be more closely related to one another
than to members of any other families. The same is true for all other taxonomic levels, including
kingdoms. The natural system of classification based on the evolutionary history or genealogy
shared by a group of organisms is known as phylogeny.
The phylogeny of organisms can be traced using phylogenic trees. Phylogenic trees show the
evolutionary relationships of organisms based on the best available pieces of evidence. They are
similar to the family tree used to trace the lineage of a person to his or her set of ancestors.

CLADISTICS
The best way that scientists can draw phylogenetic trees is by using cladistics. This is an
analytical method of refining the evolutionary classification of organisms. It involves identifying
shared derived characteristics.
Shared derived characteristics can be shown in a cladogram. A cladogram is a diagram that
represents the evolutionary relationships among organisms.
Another way of looking into the cladogram is by noting the lengths of its branches. The length
of each branch signifies the length of time in producing a change in characteristics.

IMPORTANCE OF CLASSIFYING ORGANISMS

Because of the contributions of taxonomists, many organisms can now be classified based on
different characteristics. Taxonomy has classified organisms into groups that have biological
meaning. This modern way of classifying help scientists’ study different organisms easily. Also, our
goal to protect and conserve different species of organisms can be achieved because we can easily
identify the species that are threatened and endangered.

IMPORTANCE OF NAMING ORGANIMS

In filipino, a dog is called aso. In other countries, it is
called inu (Japanese), gae (Korean), chien (French), and
anjing (Malaysia), to name a few. The word “Dog” can be
translated to over 80 different languages around the world.

In this example, note that a single species, the dog,

can be called using different names. Without a specific or
unique name for that species, it is impossible to have a
proper reference to that specific organism. By creating a
system of naming organisms, confusion can be avoided.
Common names vary among languages and even regions
within a single country.
The Scientific name uses Latin and Greek words,
the languages understood by 18th century scientists. This
practice is still followed today in naming newly discovered
species, such as the Apomys brownorum, a newly Figure 11. PUMA CONCOLOR ( “Puma
discovered rodent species discovered in Luzon Concolor Photos,” Natureplprints.com, 2014)

BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
Early efforts in naming organisms using standards scientific names entailed a specific
description of physical characteristics found in organisms. As a result, the name could be more than
15 words long because there are many characteristics that could describe a single species. Also,
different scientists have varying ways to describe organisms. For example, one person would
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choose to highlight a particular characteristic of an organism, and another person would choose
another characteristic to describe that same organism. Thus, there was a need to standardize how
organisms are named.

Thus, Carl Linnaeus (or Carolus Linnaeus) offered the first comprehensive, consistent, and
much simpler method of naming and organizing species, which is now called binomial nomenclature.
The Binomial nomenclature is a two-word naming system used to name species. In this naming
system, each species is assigned a two-part scientific name, wherein the first letter of the first word
is capitalized and the second word is set in lower case. For example, the Philippine crocodile, also
known as the Mindoro crocodile, has the scientific name Crocodylus mindorensis.

Figure 12. A Mt. Tapulao forest mouse (Apomys brownorum). This is

one of the four species of mice discovered in luzon. It is
also the smallest of all the Apomys species.

The first part of the scientific name of the crocodile is

Crocodylus. This represents the genus to which the
organisms belong. A genus is a group of closely related
species. The genus Crocodylus includes other kinds of
crocodiles, including its extinct species.

Figure 12. APOMYS BROWNORUM (lheaney, “Apomys

Brownorum,” Field Museum, July 21, 2011)

The second part of the scientific name of the crocodile is mindorensis. The name unique to the
species within the genus Crocodylus. This second name is called the specific epithet. It describes
an important trait or the location where the organism lives. The specific epithet mindorensis means
that the crocodile was originally found in Mindoro, phillipines.
The scientific name is sometimes followed by the name of the author or scientist who first
gave the scientific name of the species. Different ways are used to name organisms, such as
descriptive names, ecological names, geographical names, and even names without any definite
meaning. To summarize, here are the things to note when creating an organism’s specific ephithet:

1. The scientific name may portray the

organism’s major characteristics or its
common local name. one example is
the commo cat (Felis Catus). The
specific epithet catus means that the
species is a domesticated cat.

Figure 13. (Felis Catus) CAT(“Articles about Cats, Know

How to Identify, Combat, Prevent & Remove Felis Catus |
Nexles,” Nexles ( , 2021)

2. The locality, Collector, or eminent person

Figure 14. Phyllium bonifacioi (“”, FlipScience - Top
Philippine science news and features for the inquisitive
Filipino., November 30, 2020)
can be used in the specific epithet. For
example, Phyllium bonifacioi is aleaf insect
species found in the Philippines. It bears the
name of the Filipino revolutionary hero Andres
Bonifacio. This species is the latest addition to
the genus Phyllium, one of the four genera of
the family phylliidae.

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 3. The specific epithet may be used to
describe some of the characteristics of the
species. For example, Dendronotus albus is
the scientific name of a sea slug, which is a
marine gastropod. The specific epithet albus
is a latin word that means “white”. The sea
slug’s scientific name is based on its color.

Figure 15. Dendronotus albus (W.B Rudman, “The

Sea Slug Forum - Dendronotus Albus,”
Seaslugforum.net (corporateName=Australian
Museum, July 15, 2010)

4. The specific epithet may also be an ecological

Figure 16. Ixora philippinensis (“Philippine Santan
(Ixora Philippinensis Merr), AKA:Jungle
Flame(Engl.) or Jungle Geranium (Engl.),”
mister240z (mister240z, October 16, 2011)
name, of the habitat to which the organism
was first observed. For example, Ixora
philippinensis is commonly known as the
Philippine santan. Its specific epithet,
philippinensis, indicates that it can be found in
the Philippines. This santan species is an
evergreen shrub that can be specifically found
in the forest of central and southern Luzon.

REFERENCES

Maria Elena Z. Basco-Tiamzon. General Biology 2 Textbook. Reviewed by Dr.Jonas P. Quilang, Dr. Dennis B.
Bela-ong and Bryan S. Sanos. Vibal group, Inc. with main office at 1253 G. Araneta Avenue Quezon
City.

n.a, CK-12 Foundation, “CK12-Foundation,” CK-12 Foundation (CK-12 Foundation, 2021), 

https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-biology-flexbook-2.0/section/5.10/primary/lesson/linnaean-
classification-bio.

n.a, “Philippine Santan (Ixora Philippinensis Merr), AKA:Jungle Flame(Engl.) or Jungle Geranium (Engl.),”
mister240z (mister240z, October 16, 2011),
 https://mister240z.wordpress.com/2011/10/16/philippine-santan-ixora-philippinensis-merr-akajungle-
flameengl-or-jungle-geranium-engl/.

n.a, “Toppr-Guides,” Toppr-guides, May 23, 2018, 

https://www.toppr.com/guides/biology/the-living-world/classification-and-nomenclature/.

n.a, W.B Rudman, “The Sea Slug Forum - Dendronotus Albus,” Seaslugforum.net
(corporateName=Australian Museum, July 15, 2010),
 http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/dendalbu.

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