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    Classification of Organisms

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    Randolph Woodroffe
    The document discusses classification systems for organisms, including the five kingdom system and taxonomic hierarchy. It describes key characteristics of the animal and arthropod phyla and their classes. The binomial system of naming species with genus and specific names is also summarized.

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    Classification of Organisms

    Uploaded by

    Randolph Woodroffe
    8 views4 pages
    The document discusses classification systems for organisms, including the five kingdom system and taxonomic hierarchy. It describes key characteristics of the animal and arthropod phyla and their classes. The binomial system of naming species with genus and specific names is also summarized.

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    The document discusses classification systems for organisms, including the five kingdom system and taxonomic hierarchy. It describes key characteristics of the animal and arthropod phyla and their classes. The binomial system of naming species with genus and specific names is also summarized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as doc, pdf, or txt
    8 views4 pages

    Classification of Organisms

    Uploaded by

    Randolph Woodroffe
    The document discusses classification systems for organisms, including the five kingdom system and taxonomic hierarchy. It describes key characteristics of the animal and arthropod phyla and their classes. The binomial system of naming species with genus and specific names is also summarized.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Classification of Organisms

    Classification is grouping organisms together based on structural similarities.

    The Five Kingdom Classification System


     Animals
    o vertebrate
    o invertebrate

     Plants
    o flowering plants
    o conifers
    o ferns
    o mosses
    o algae

     Protists
    o single-celled algae
    o protozoa

     Monera
    o eubacteria (commonly called bacteria)
    o cyanobacteria (formerly blue-green 'algae')

     Fungi
    o non-photosynthetic organisms with cell wall

    Taxonomy
    Taxonomy is the naming of groups with similar structural characters into a hierarchy
    that conveys information about the relationships of species to one another.
    Organisms in one group share more characteristics in common than a group further
    down the hierarchy.

    KINGDOM

    PHYLUM

    CLASS

    ORDER

    FAMILY

    GENUS
    SPECIES

    Humans are classified in the following groups:

    Kingdom Animalia

    Phylum Chordata

    Class Mammalia

    Order Primates

    Family Hominidae

    Genus Homo

    Species Homo sapiens

    Binomial System for Classifying


    Organisms
    The binomial system, first introduced by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in
    1753, is a two-word system for naming organisms in which the generic name is
    followed by a specific name.

    Both names together make the species name and normally would be written in
    italics.

    Within a genus any new member must have a different specific name.

    As an example, the gum tree Eucalyptus longifolia is classified in the genus


    Eucalyptus and has the specific name longifolia.

    It is possible to have a wattle with the same specific name, for example Acacia
    longifolia.

    Defining a Species
    If two individuals share certain characteristics and can reproduce fertile offspring,
    they can be regarded as both belonging to the same species.
    Biologists use a taxonomic key to identify an organism and determine the species
    to which it belongs. A taxonomic key comprises a series of paired statements, which
    lead to two alternative conditions as shown below.

    Animals
    1a Have vertebrae go to 2
    do not have
    1b go to 6
    vertebrae
    2a adults have gills fish
    2b adults have lungs go to 3
    have scaly or
    3a go to 4
    naked skin
    have covering
    3b go to 5
    over skin
    4a no scales amphibians
    4b scaly skin reptiles
    5a have feathers birds
    5b have fur or hair mammals

    Two phyla that contain most animal species are Phylum Chordata and Phylum
    Arthropoda.

    Phylum Chordata
     Perforations of the pharynx (gill slits)
     Dorsal nerve cord
     Notochord may develop into a vertebral column
     Contains 6 classes

    Classes within the Phylum Chordata

     Mammalia
    o Have mammary glands
    o All have hair (fur, wool, quills)

     Aves (birds)
    o Feathers
    o Beak without teeth
    o Scales on feet and legs

     Reptilia
    o Body surface covered in scales
    o Eggs covered by soft shell
     Amphibia
    o Skin soft without scales
    o Eggs hatch to form tadpoles
    o Live first part of life in water

     Osteichthyes (bony fish)


    o Skeletons made of bone
    o Gills covered by a flap

     Chondrichthyes (cartilage fish)


    o Skeletons made of cartilage
    o Gills uncovered

    Phylum Arthropoda
     Ventral nerve cord
     All have an exoskeleton
     Segmented body with jointed appendages
     Contains 4 classes and 1 subphylum (crustaceans)

    Classes of Arthropods

     Insecta
    o 3 segments – head, thorax, abdomen
    o 3 pairs of legs attached to thorax

     Arachnida (spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites)


    o 2 segments – fused head/thorax, abdomen
    o 4 pairs of legs attached to thorax
    o 1 pair of pedipalps

     Chilopoda (centipede)
    o 1 pair of legs for every segment

     Diplopoda (millepede)
    o 2 pair of legs every second segment
    o Alternating large and small segments

     Crustacea (crayfish, crabs, slaters)


    o hard outer surface
    o 2 pair of antennae

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