Organizing Life

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Organizing Lifes Diversity

• Systems of Classification

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What is classification?

• Grouping objects or organisms based on similar
  characteristics
• Helps keep biologists
• Communicating
• Organized

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Early Systems

• Aristotle (early Greek)
• 1st commonly accepted system of classification
• LinnaeusSwedish Scientist (18th Cent. 1700s)
• Taxonomy
• The system we use now

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Aristotles System

• Organisms were classified as either plants or
  animals
• Plants
• Average size
• Structure (trees, shrubs, or herbs)
• Animals
• Habitat (land walk, run crawl, water swim, air
  fly)
• Morphology (physical characteristics/structure)
• Presence of red blood

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Limits to Aristotles System

• Does not take evolutionary history or
  relationships into account
• Darwin wasnt born yet
• Some things dont fit into neat categories
• Birds that dont fly
• Frogs that live on both land and water

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Sharing Time

• Person A Tell your partner how Aristotle
  classified things
• Person B Tell your partner one limitation of
  Aristotles system

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Linnaeus

• Created our current system taxonomy
• Taxonomy the scientific study of how living
  things are classified
• based on structure and behavior
• similarities and differences of organisms

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Questions

• How does Linnaeus classify organisms?
• What is the difference between Aristotles and
  Linnaeuss systems?

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Dichotomous key

• A tool for identifying organisms that uses a
  series of paired descriptive statements

Ask yourself yes or no questions to help get your
items into 2 groups
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Start With Breaking Items into 2 Groups
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Then, Turn Those Groups Into2 Part Questions
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Binomial Nomenclature

• Gives each species a scientific name that has two
  parts
• Genus
• Species
• Uses Latin
• Unchanging
• Language of Science

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Binomial Nomenclature

• Common names can be misleading (starfish is
  neither a star, nor a fish)
• Different from common name which could be
  confusing
• Some people call the bird ? redbird, cardinal,
  Northern cardinal. Some call the lower picture a
  cardinal too
• Cardinalis cardinalis refers to only one specific
  kind of bird

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Writing Scientific Names

• Only the 1st letter of the genus name is
  capitalized
• Scientific name is underlined/italicized
• After 1st use, can abreviate
• Cardinalis cardinalis becomes C.cardinalis

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What are the 2 pieces of Binomial Nomenclature?
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Taxonomic Categories

• Taxonomists classify organisms by dividing them
  into smaller groups based on more specific
  criteria
• Like nesting dollseach category fits into
  another
• Arranged from broadest to most specific

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How do Taxonomic Categories Work?
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Whats in a Name?

• Species
• Genus
• Family
• Order
• Class
• Phylum
• Kingdom

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Species

• A group of organisms that have similar
  characteristics
• Skull shape
• Size
• American Black Bear (Ursus americanus)

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Genus

• A group or species that are closely related and
  share a common ancestor
• Ursus
• Massive skulls, similar tooth structure
• American black bear, Asiatic black bear

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Family

• A group of genera (plural of genus) that have
  similar characteristics
• Ursidae
• Walk flat footed, rotating forearm
• Sloth bear, polar bear

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Order

• A group of families that have similar
  characteristics
• Carnivore
• Eats meat

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Class

• A group of one or more related orders
• Mammalia

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Phylum (pl. Phyla)

• A group of related classes
• Chordata
• Backbone, bilateral symmetry, digestive system
• Hawk, sturgeon

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Kingdom

• A group of related phyla
• Animalia

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Remembering

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

• Kings
• Passed
• Cups
• Of
• Funny
• Green
• Stuff

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OR

• King
• Phillip
• Came
• Over
• From
• Germany
• Swimming

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

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OR

• Come Up With Your Own!

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Partner Time

• Tell your partner how you plan to remember the
  classification system.
• Then, tell them each of the taxons

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Applications

• People who study taxonomy provide detailed guides
  that help people to identify organisms
• Dichotomous keys- keys based on a series of
  choices between characteristics