Classification

• Classification


  The organisation of living things into groups according to their similarities
• Biologists classify organisms to make it easier to study them
• Classification allows us to make sense of the living world
• Classification helps us to understand how the different groups of living things are related to each other
• Classification enables us to recognise the biodiversity present in the world and gives scientists a common language in which to talk about it
• Linnaean system


  The natural classification system, which groups organisms into kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species
• Kingdoms in Linnaeus's original classification

  • Animals
  • Plants
• Developments in microscopes and knowledge of biochemistry have led to changes in classification systems
• Current three domain, six kingdom model

  • Archaea
  • Bacteria
  • Protista
  • Fungi
  • Plants
  • Animals
• Species


  The smallest group of clearly identified living organisms in Linnaeus's classification system, where members can breed together and produce fertile offspring
• The huge variety of living organisms and the number of different languages spoken means the same organism can have many different names around the world
• Binomial nomenclature


  The scientific naming system where each organism has a genus and species name in Latin
• The first name is the genus, written with a capital letter, and the second name is the species, written with a lowercase letter
• The three-domain system divides organisms into Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota
• Observation, microscopy, and biochemical analysis produce different models of the relationships between organisms
• Scientists now use DNA evidence to determine evolutionary relationships between organisms
• Giant pandas and red pandas

  Had a common ancestor a very long time ago, but the 'wrist thumb' evolved separately to solve different ecological problems