2. Why Classify?
There are 1.5 million different types of living organisms
We need to have a way of identifying them
This is called Taxonomy
Taxonomy is defined as a discipline of classifying
organisms and assigning each one a universally
accepted name
3. Why is this important?
This animal is called a
cougar, a puma, a
panther, or a mountain
lion
And these are only its
English names!
4. Past Classification Systems
Ancient Man: simple classification, non-edible/edible,
big/small, dangerous/safe
Aristotle: first organized system, plants, animals (split
into land, water, or air creatures)
During the ‘Age of Discovery’ (1400s-1600s) people
were bringing new plants and animals back to Europe
and they needed names
6. 1960s: As time passed and new biochemical
techniques and electron microscopes were developed
we were able to see more differences between species
and a new proposal for a multi-Kingdom system
emerged
R.H. Whittaker: first proposed the Five Kingdom
classification system
7. Today we still use the basic system that Linnaeus
developed
9. Genus: group of
closely related
species
e.g. Genus Ursus
contains 5 other
types of bears
Ursus arctos, Ursus
maritimus
10. Family: group of
genera that share
many characteristics
e.g. Ailuropoda
melanoleuca, Ursus
maritimus and Ursus
arctos are in the
same family: Ursidae
11. Order: group of
similar families
e.g. bears, dogs and
cats are all part of the
order Carnivora
16. So to Re-cap We Have...
Kingdom It is very important to put
these in the correct order
Phylum
so sometimes people
Class use acronyms to
remember the correct
Order order
Family e.g King Philip Came
Genus Over For Green Soup, or
Species e.g. Kings Play Chess
On Funny Glass Stools
17. Now that we have a
classification system, which
category do all these
different animals fit into?
When Linaeus started classifying he split organisms
into 2 kingdoms: Plantae and Animalia
Then in the late 1800s we added in another Kingdom:
Protista, Plantae and Animalia
18. We currently use a
classification system that
has 5 different Kingdoms
Monera Plantae
Protista Animalia
Fungi
19. But...
Some biologists feel that in Kingdom Monera there are
two distinct groups represented and then Monera is
then split into two different Kingdoms called: Eubacteria
and Archaebacteria
25. How do we decide which
organism goes in which
Kingdom, Class, Species
Structural features are still the main source of evidence
used to compare organisms.
But we also use:
35. Kingdom Monera
1. sub-kingdom- Archaebacteria
unicellular, ancient bacteria
prokaryotic (no nucleus)
cell wall
lives in harsh environments
does not have peptidoglycan
obtains energy as autotroph and/or heterotroph
36.
37. 2. sub-kingdom- Eubacteria (true bacteria)
unicellular, found in colonies
prokaryotic
has cell wall
has peptidoglycan
obtain energy as autotroph and/or heterotroph
e.g. disease producing, cyanobacteria, Escherichia coli
38.
39.
40. Kingdom Protista
unicellular, colonial and multicellular
eukaryotic (have a nucleus)
they are ‘animal’ like, ‘plant or fungi’ like or ‘bacteria’
like
they obtain energy as an autotroph and heterotroph
e.g. amoeba, paramecium
41.
42. Kingdom Fungi
unicellular and multicellular
eukaryotic cells
have cell walls like plants, made of chitin
reproduce by spores
all fungi are parasites or decompose
obtain energy by digesting and absorbing whatever is
in the ground
e.g. mushrooms, mold
46. Kingdom Animalia
multicellular and motile
no cell walls
high level of organ and organ system organization
sexual reproduction
obtain energy by eating other organisms
e.g. mammals, insects
47.
48. Dichotomous Key
a device than can be used to identify an unknown
organism
it consists of a variety of two part statements that
describe the characteristics of organisms
