Organizing Life’s Diversity
Why Classify?
1. To study the great diversity of organisms.
2. To organize living things into groups that
have biological meaning.
• Classification – the grouping of objects or
information based on similarities.
(ie. organizing your music collection)
(ie: organizing a grocery store)
Taxonomy
The science of classifying organisms and assigning
each organism a universally accepted name.

I
How to Name Organisms
• Scientific names are given to all organisms
because common names vary among
languages and among regions within a
single country.
• Many organisms have misleading names so
scientific names eliminate confusion about
an organisms identity.
Ex: prairie dog, crayfish, starfish, seahorse
How to name organisms
• Carolus Linnaeus - developed classification
system based on physical & structural similarities
of organisms.
– Still used today
– Includes classification based on structural similarities
& evolutionary relationships of species.
Binomial Nomenclature
Each species is assigned a two-part scientific name.
Developed by Linnaeus to identify species.
First word = Genus
Second word = species
(ie. Homo sapiens = modern humans)

Note: Scientific names are always written in italics
or underlined
Taxon
A group at any level of organization.

Overview of Taxonomy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F38BmgPcZ_
• Today’s phylogenetic classification uses a
hierarchy of taxa to classify organisms.
• From largest to smallest
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

Dear
King
Phillip
Came
Over
For
Greek
Salad
Domain
• Most inclusive category
• Larger than kingdom
• The three domains:
– Bacteria
– Archaea
– Eukarya
Kingdom
Group of closely related phyla.
The kingdom is a large taxonomic category,
consisting of closely related phyla.
Grizzly
bear

Black
bear

Giant
panda

Red
fox

Abert
squirrel

KINGDOM Animalia

Coral snake
Sea
star
Phylum
Group of closely related classes
Several different classes make up a phylum.

Grizzly
bear

Black
bear

Giant
panda

PHYLUM

Red
fox

Chordata

Abert
squirrel

Coral snake
Class
Group of similar orders
The next larger category, the class, is
composed of similar orders.
Grizzly
bear

Black
bear

Giant
panda

Class Mammalia

Red
fox

Abert
squirrel
Orders
Group of similar families
An order is a broad category composed of
similar families.
Grizzly
bear

Black
bear

Giant
panda

Red
fox
Family
Group of genera that share many
characteristics.
Genera that share many characteristics are
grouped in a larger category, the family.
Grizzly
bear

Black
bear

Giant
panda
Genus
Group of closely related species.
Makes up the first part of scientific name.
Species
Group of similar organisms that can interbreed
and produce fertile offspring.
Makes up the second part of the scientific name
• Each level is called a taxon, or taxonomic
category.
• Species and genus are the two smallest
categories. Grizzly
Black
bear

bear
Human Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Homo
Species: sapiens
Subspecies: H. s. sapiens
Evolutionary Classification
Biologist now group organisms into
categories that represent lines of
evolutionary descent.
Cladogram
(Phylogenetic Tree)
A diagram that shows the evolutionary
relationship among a group of organisms.
Cladogram & Phylogenetic Tree
Evolutionary
Classification
Appendages

Crab

Conical Shells

Barnacle

Limpet

Barnacle

Crab

Molted external
skeleton
Segmentation

CLASSIFICATION BASED ON
VISIBLE SIMILARITY

Mollusk

Crustaceans

Limpet

Tiny freeswimming larva

CLADOGRAM
Dichotomous Key
• Tool used to identify unfamiliar organisms.
• A series of paired statements that describe
physical characteristics of different
organisms.
Molecular Clocks
A gene in an
ancestral species

2 mutations

new mutation

2 mutations

new
mutation

new
mutation
Domain Eukarya

Copyright Pearson Prentice Hall
Virus
A noncellular, parasitic particle consisting of
nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat.
Must have a host to reproduce
Prokaryote
Cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus
and membrane-enclosed organelles
Ex bacteria and archaea
Eukaryote
Cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and
membrane-enclosed organelles
Ex protist, plants, fungi & animals
Radial Smmetry
The body is shaped like a pie and can be
divided into mirror-image halves by any
plane through its center
Bilateral Symmetry
A body shape in which a longitudinal plane
divides the body into two equal but opposite
halves
• Animals can be
distinguished from one
another by events that take
place in their embryonic
development.
Deuterostome
Development in which the blastopore
becomes the anus cleavage is indeterminate
Protostome
Development in which the blastopore
becomes the mouth and cleavage is
determinate
Major Divisions of Animals
Sponges (Porifera)
Multicellular, heterotrophic, no cell walls,
contain a few specialized cells and are
sessile
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW05vMziy2
Cnidarians
Carnivorous animals that have stinging
tentacles, simplest animals to have body
symmetry & specialized tissue
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HciagFg3ZOg
Mollusk
Soft-bodied animals that may have an
external, internal shell or no shell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a7j5prL8hc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRad4Y3FPdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwAqhThd_EQ&safe=active
Arthropods
Segmented body, tough exoskeleton, and
jointed appendages
Crustaceans: shrimps, crayfishes, lobsters,
barnacles
Arachnids: scorpoins, spiders, mites, ticks,
harvestmen
Insects: 93,200 species in North America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYWtj5q_MVc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHaWXHRi1x8&safe=active
Echinoderms
Spiny skin, internal skeleton, water vascular
system with radial symmetry
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=D3W4OCnHyCs Sea Urchins
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=f7cXeWxxfD4
Fishes
Aquatic vertebrates and most have scales,
paired fins and gills
Amphibians-Vertebrate, most live in
water as larva and on land as an adult, has
moist skin, and lacks scales and nails
Reptiles
Vertebrate that has dry, scaly skin, lungs, terrestrial
eggs
Birds

Vertebrates that maintain a constant body temperature,
has feathers and lays shelled eggs
Mammals
Vertebrates that have hair, nourish their young with
milk, and are endotherms.
What can you identify?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=hdPUtGPrrME&safe=active
Classification Jeopardy
• https://jeopardylabs.com/play/classificationof-living-things
• http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy
/usergames/Jan201003/game1263848181.p
hp

Chapter 18 - Classification

Editor's Notes

  • #15 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #17 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #19 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #21 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #23 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #26 Linnaeus’s hierarchical system of classification uses seven taxonomic categories. This illustration shows how a grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, is grouped within each taxonomic category. Only some representative species are illustrated for each category above the species level.
  • #34 Early systems of classification grouped organisms together based on visible similarities. That approach might result in classifying limpets and barnacles together (left). Biologists now group organisms into categories that represent lines of evolutionary descent, or phylogeny, not just physical similarities. Crabs and barnacles are now grouped together (right) because they share several characteristics that indicate that they are more closely related to each other than either is to limpets. These characteristics include segmented bodies, jointed limbs, and an external skeleton that is shed during growth.
  • #39 By comparing the DNA sequences of two or more species, biologists estimate how long the species have been separated.