TAXONOMY

The branch of biology concerned with the

classification of organisms into groups
based on similarities of structure, origin,
etc.
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Supermarkets
 BINOMIAL
NOMENCLATURE
Two Name Naming System
1750

• Grouped living things by their PHYSICAL TRAITS

• Grouped things into KINGDOMS
• Gave all living things a two-part name
• Provided a ‘universal language’ for scientists
when identifying organisms
 Each KINGDOM is further classified into more specific groups,
much like addresses are organized into smaller categories.

Kingdom Country
Phylum State
Class County
Order Town
Family Neighborhood
Genus Street
Species House Number
SPECIES
 Characteristics of Kingdoms
BACTERIA PROTIST FUNGUS PLANT ANIMAL
Number of Cells Single Single Multi Multi Multi
(single/multi) (except algae) (except yeast)

Prokaryotic/ Prokaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic Eukaryotic

Eukaryotic
Producer/Consumer Both Both Consumer Producer Consumer
(decomposer)

Mobile/Non-mobile Both Both Non- Non- Mobile

mobile mobile
Cell Wall Yes No Yes Yes No
(yes/no) (Cellulose) (Chitin)
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Animal Chordate Mammal Primate Hominid Pan troglodytes

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species

Animal Chordate Mammal carnivore Felidae Pantera leo

 Sunflower Wolf African Bullfrog Dog Mushroom
Elephant
Kingdom

Phylum

Class

Order

Family

Genus

Species
 A B C D E
KINGDOM Animailia Animalia Animailia Animalia Animailia
PHYLUM Chordata Chordata Chordata Chordata Chordata
CLASS Mammalia Mammailia Mammalia Mammailia Reptilia
ORDER Carnivora Cetacea Carnivora Cetacea Eusuchia
FAMILY Canidae Dolphinidae Hyaenidae Dolphinidae Cercapithecidae
GENUS Lycaun Tursiops Hyaena Orcinus Crocodylus
SPECIES pictus Aduncus brunnea orca acutus

1. The scientific name is made up of what two classification groups?

___________________________
2. What is the scientific name of organism 2? __________________________
3. Which two organisms are most closely related? _________________ Why?
4. Which two organisms share the most traits in common? ____________________
5. What organism is most distant from all the organisms listed? ________________
6. Organism C and A are related because they share the same___________________?
7. Organism E and A are related because they share the same____________________?
8. Explain why organism B is like a human.
9. What kind of organism is a Hyaena brunnea? ____________________________
a Trusiops aduncus? ___________________
Since the Linnaean system focuses on physical
similarities alone…molecular studies (genetic
sequences) are not considered.
Genetic similarities between two species are more
likely than physical similarities to show
___________________________________
COMMON ANCESTORY
Revealed genetic differences in the
DNA sequences of organisms
Classified organisms into 3 DOMAINS
•BACTERIA
•ARCHAEA
•EUKARYA

Carl Woese
 Cladogram
• An evolutionary tree that suggests how species may be
related

• Over evolutionary time, certain traits in a group of species, or

clade, stay the same. Other traits change.
 Derived Characters
• Derived characters are traits that are shared by some
species but not by others
• The more closely related species are, the more
derived characters they will share
• Derived characters
are shown as
hash marks
 Nodes
• Each place where a branch splits is called a
node.
• Nodes represent the most recent common
ancestor shared by a clade.
What do the house cat and the turtle have in common?

What does the leopard have in common with the wolf?

What organisms are most closely related?

 INTERPRETING TAXONOMY GRAPHS
1. ______ Dogs belong to the order Felidae.
2. ______ A fox belongs to the phylum Arthropoda.
3. ______ Snakes belong to the phylum Reptilia.
4. ______ Lions belong to the class mammalia
5. ______ All arthropods belong to the Class Insecta
6. ______ All rodents belong to the phylum chordata.
7. ______ All amphibians belong to the class reptilia.
8. _______ All primates are mammals.
9. _______ The class mammalia includes dogs, cats and rats.
10. ______ A lion belongs to the genus Felis.
11. ______ All mammals are primates.
12. ______ Insects and lobsters are arthropods.

In each set, circle the pair that is most closely related.

13. snakes & crocodiles | snakes & frogs
14. rats & cats | cats & dogs
15. insects & lobsters | insects & birds
16. lions & tigers | lions & cougars
17. foxes & rats | foxes & dogs
18. cats & dogs | cats & lions

19. List (use species name) all the animals pictured that belong in the Felidae family.

20. The image does not show orders of insects. Suggest three categories of insects that would likely be grouped into orders. Hint:
think about what kind of insects there are. Add your three categories to the image.

21. Bonus: Create an addition to the image given the following information.
a. Mollusks are divided into three classes: Class Cephalopoda (squids), Class Gastropoda (snails), Class Bivalve (clams
and oysters)
b. Cephalapods have a few orders, one of which is Octopoda (octopus) and and another is Teuthida (squids)
c. The scientific name for the common octopus is Octopus vulgaris.
d. The scientific name for the common european squid is Loligo vulgaris
 A tool used to determine the identity of an organism

1. a. Wings covered by a hard covering (exoskeleton)…….go to 2

b. Wings not covered by exoskeleton…….go to 3

2. a. Body is round shape……Lady bug

b. Body is elongated…… Grasshopper

3. Housefly
a. Wings point toward the back………
b. Wings point toward the sides….. Go to 4
4. a. Wings are large and broad…….
Butterfly
b. Wings are long and thin…... Dragonfly
 EXAMPLE OF A DICHOTOMOUS KEY

MONEY TAXONOMIC KEY

1 A. Metal....................................................go to 2
1 B. Paper....................................................go to 5

2 A. Brown (copper)........................................penny
2 B. Silver....................................................go to 3

3 A. Smooth edge...........................................nickel.
3 B. Ridges around the edge...............................go to 4

4 A. Torch on back..........................................dime
4 B. Eagle on back...........................................quarter
DICOTOMOUS KEY
1. a. Needle leaves go to 2 _____________
b. Non-needle leaves go to 3 ____________
2. a. Needles are clustered Pine _____________
b. Needles are in singlets Spruce

3. a. Simple leaves (single leaf) go to 4

b. Compound leaves (made of “leaflets”) go to 7

4. a. Smooth edged go to 5 _____________

b. Jagged edge go to 6

5. a. Leaf edge is smooth Magnolia _____________

b. Leaf edge is lobed White Oak
_____________
6. a. Leaf edge is small and tooth-like Elm
b. Leaf edge is large and thorny Holly

7. a. Leaflets are attached at one single point Chestnut

b. Leaflets are attached at multiple points Walnut
_____________
_____________
Considering the levels of
classification, explain which
organisms share the most traits in
common?
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________

Considering the levels of

classification, explain which
organisms are most closely
related.
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
 DO YOU HAVE “CLASS”?
What are 2 reasons we classify things?

*For order / To find things more easily *To show how things are similar

Who was the person who named organisms with a two-part naming system?
Carolus Linnaeus
On what one aspect was the second classification system based?
Specific Traits
What is the Latin term we use in our naming system to classify/identify organisms?
Binomial Nomenclature
What are the 7 groups of classification, (from largest to smallest)?
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species
Which group is the most broad? The most specific?

*Kingdom *Species
What two groups make up the scientific names of all organisms?
Genus and species