Taxonomy, The Science of

Classifying OrganismsBrought To You By

Carolus Linnaeus

• Why Classify? (page 447)• 1. Why do biologists use a classification system to

study the diversity of life?

• 2. The science of classifying organisms and assigning them universally accepted names isknown as

• taxonomy • 3. Is the following sentence true or false? In a

good system of classification, organisms placed into a particular group are less similar to each other than they are to organisms in other groups.

They use a classification system to name and group organisms logically.

• Assigning Scientific Names (page 448)• 4. Why is it confusing to refer to organisms by

common names?

• 5. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about early efforts at naming organisms.

• a. Names were usually in English.• b. Names often described detailed physical

characteristics of a species.• c. Names could be very long.• d. It was difficult to standardize the names.• 6. The two-word naming system developed by

Linnaeus is called Binomial NomenclatureMeans “ two naming system”

Common names vary from country to country. A single species can share moreThan one common name.

Called Moose in the USA Called Elk in Britain

Buzzard in USA

Buzzard in Britain

• 7. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about binomial nomenclature.

• a. The system is no longer in use today.• b. Each species is assigned a two-part scientific

name.• c. The scientific name is always written in italics.• d. The second part of the scientific name is

capitalized.• 8. What is the genus of the grizzly bear, Ursus

arctos? • The genus is “Ursus”.

• Linnaeus System of Classification (pages 449-450)

• 9. A group or level of organization in taxonomy is called a taxonomic category, orTaxon (taxa is plural)

• 10. The largest taxonomic category in Linnaeus’s system of classification is the _________ and the smallest is the _____.

11. What two kingdoms did Linnaeus name? Plantae and Animalia kingdoms

Kingdom Species

. Fill in the name of each missing taxonomic category in the chart below.

12. Fill in the name of each missing taxonomic category in the chart below.

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumChordata - backbones

ClassMammalia – nurse young OrderCarnivora – Shearing molars

FamilyUrsidae - Bears

GenusUrsus –”Typical Bears”SpeciesUrsus arctos

Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk

• Closely related species are grouped in the same genus

Panthera leoPanthera uncia

Panthera pardus Puma concolor Panthera tigris

Acinonyx jubatus

Snow leopard

Cheetah

Leopard Mountain. lion Tiger

Cat Phylogenetic (family) Tree

The rare “Flying Cat”Felifloatis apodis

• Scientific names give descriptive info:1. House fly a) Graptemys geographica

2. Red maple b) Apis melliflora

3. Indian elephant c) Acer rubrum

4. Map turtle d) Musca domestica

5. Honey bee e) Elephas maximus

Reviewing Key Concepts• Short Answer On the lines provided, answer the following

questions.• 1. As biologists classify the diversity of life, what two

main tasks do they carry out?As diversity is studied, scientists name organisms and group them in a logical manner.• 2. On what two languages are scientific names based?• The languages are Latin, or Greek.• 3. According to the system of binomial nomenclature,

how should the scientific name of a species be written?• First letter in Genus name upper case• First letter of species name lower case• Underline name or write in italics

• 4. Which part of the name Puma concolor identifies the genus?

• Puma identifies the genus to which a mountain lion belongs.

• 5. List in order from smallest to largest the seven categories in Linnaeus's system of classification.

• Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom - called taxa (singular – taxon)

Scientific naming review

• The science of giving organisms a two-part scientific name is called

• What two languages are used in scientific naming?

• What is correct way of writing the scientific name “campylorhynchus brunneicalipis”?

Binomial nomenclature

Latin and Greek

• A group of closely related species are a _____

• To what genus do Crotalus atrox, and Crotalus willardi belong?

• Fill in the missing taxa: Domain, Kingdom,_______, Class, _______, _______, Genus,

Species.

genus

Phylum Order Family

• Why can common names be so confusing to scientists?

• What species are more closely related?a) Vulpes rufusb) Lynx rufusc) Vulpes velox

• What descriptive information does the scientific name Carnegiea gigantea provide?

Common names are different in different countries – A single species may have more than one common name.