Chapter 18: Classification

Why Classify?
• Convenience
• Innate (Behavior) desire to organize and group the world

Aristotle (Greek)
• First to classify
• Plants: Green Color and Size (grass or trees)
• Animals: 3 Types based on habitat (water, land, or
air)(problematic)

• 1758: Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, began to develop

classification
o Started with plants then moved to animals
o Developed Binomial Nomenclature, a two-name naming
system
o 1st name is genus name (first letter CAPS)
o 2nd name is species name/identifier (no CAPS)
o Both names in Latin, use structural similarities (anatomy)
Examples: Felis (purr) domesticus
Octopus vulgaris
Panthera (cat that roars) leo
Pinus ponderosa
• Father of Taxonomy (science of classification)
• Developed 6 Basic Kingdoms

Species:
1. Smallest unit of taxonomy
2. Population of organisms that:
o Share similar characteristics
o Can breed successfully with each other

Six Kingdoms:
1. Kingdom Archaebacteria
• Harsh environments (salty, hot water, anaerobic, autotrophic)
2. Kingdom Eubacteria
• True bacteria
• Prokaryotic
• Unicellular
• Ex: blue-green bacteria
3. Kingdom Protista
• Unicellular
• Eukaryotic
 • Ex: amoeba, paramecium, euglena, etc.
4. Kingdom Fungi
• Cell wall (no cellulose)
• Heterotrophic (grows like plant)
• Ex: mold, yeast, mildew, ringworm, athlete’s foot, etc.
5. Kingdom Plantae
• Eukaryotic
• Multicellular
• Cell Wall
• Autotrophic
6. Kingdom Animalia
• Eukaryotic
• Multicellular
• Heterotrophic

Classification Tree:
• Kingdom  Phylum  Class  Order  Family  Genus 
Species

Phylogenic Taxonomy:
• Biological systematics organize all life on earth based on how the
organism evolved Scientists Use:
1. Fossil Records
2. Morphology Similarities:
o Greater number of homologous morphological features
shared
o Structure
o How it works
3. Embryological Patterns of Development
4. Similar Chromosomes (macromolecules)