DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SPECIFIC TAXON
Taxonomy (which literally means “arrangement law”) is the science of
classifying organisms to construct internationally shared classification systems
with each organism placed into more and more inclusive groupings. Think
about how a grocery store is organized. One large space is divided into
departments, such as dairy and meats. Then, each department further divides
into aisles, then each aisle into categories and brands, and then finally a single
product. This organization from larger to smaller, more specific categories is
called a hierarchical system.
The level of classification
Source: bioweb.uwlax.ed
In the eighteenth century, a scientist named Carl Linnaeus first proposed
organizing the known species of organisms into a hierarchical taxonomy. In
this system, species that are most similar to each other are put together within
a grouping known as a genus. Furthermore, similar genera (the plural of
genus) are put together within a family. This grouping continues until all
organisms are collected together into groups at the highest level. The current
taxonomic system now has eight levels in its hierarchy, from lowest to highest:
species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. Thus,
species are grouped within genera, genera are grouped within families,
families are grouped within orders, and so on (Figure below).
Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-nmbiology1/chapter/reading-taxonomy
The kingdom Animalia stems from the Eukarya domain. For the
common dog, the classification levels would be as shown in the figure above.
Therefore, the full name of an organism technically has eight terms. For the
dog, it is Eukarya, Animalia, Chordata, Mammalia, Carnivora, Canidae,
Canis, and lupus. Notice that each name is capitalized except for species, and
the genus and species names are italicized. Scientists generally refer to an
organism only by its genus and species, which is its two-word scientific name,
in what is called binomial nomenclature. Each species has a unique binomial
nomenclature to allow for proper identification.
The name at each level is also called a taxon. In other words, dogs are
in order Carnivora. Carnivora is the name of the taxon at the order level;
Canidae is the taxon at the family level, and so forth. Organisms also have a
common name that people typically use, in this case, dog. Note that the dog is
additionally a subspecies: the “familiaris” in Canis lupus familiaris.
Subspecies are members of the same species that are capable of mating and
reproducing viable offspring, but they are considered separate subspecies due
to geographic or behavioral isolation or other factors.
Scientists commonly use the Three Domain System to depict the
evolutionary history of living things based on the idea that all cells share a
least universal common ancestor (LUCA) that evolved into three umbrella
domains: the prokaryotic Archaea, prokaryotic Bacteria, and eukaryotic
Eukarya. Domains are divided further into kingdom, phylum, class, order,
family, genus, and species.
Note that only genus and species names are italicized:
• Domain: Eukarya
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Primates
• Family: Hominidae
• Genus: Homo Species: sapiens
• Scientific name: Homo sapiens (modern human)
Importance of Taxonomy in Biology
Identifying taxonomic groups shows how living things relate to one
another. Scientists use behavior, genetics, embryology, comparative anatomy,
and fossil records to classify a group of organisms with shared characteristics.
A universal nomenclature system facilitates communication between
researchers conducting similar studies.
In the western world, Aristotle and his protégé, Theophrastus, are
credited with being the first scholars to use taxonomy to make sense of the
natural world. Aristotle’s classification system grouped animals with
comparable features into genera (this is the plural of genus), similar to the
current division of vertebrates and invertebrates.
Advances in Taxonomy
According to the Linnean Society of London, Carolus (Carl) Linnaeus is
known as the “father of taxonomy” and is considered a pioneer in the field of
ecology. Linnaeus authored the wellknown Systema Naturae, the first edition
of which was published in 1735. Linnaeus established the uniform naming
hierarchy still used today with that two-word system of binomial
nomenclature.
The Linnaean (also written as Linnean) system divided life into two
kingdoms: Animalia and Vegetabilia, largely based on morphology.
Charles Darwin’s famous work On the Origin of Species expanded the
18th century Linnaean classification system to include phyla (singular:
phylum) and evolutionary relationships. French zoologist Jean-Baptiste
Lamarck made the distinction between vertebrates and invertebrates.
German scientist Ernst Haeckel (also sometimes spelled as Haeckl)
introduced a tree of life with three kingdoms: Animalia, Plantae, and
Protista.
In the 1940s, Ernst Mayr, an ornithologist and curator at the American
Museum of Natural History, made a groundbreaking discovery in evolutionary
biology. Mayr observed that isolated populations evolve differently as the
result of random mutations and natural selection. Eventually, the differences
give rise to a new species. His findings shed new light on the process of
speciation and taxonomic classification.
Classification Task
Directions: Analyze the table on levels of classification. Then, answer the
guide questions. Write your answers in your notebook.
Group Name Organism
Chimpanzee House cat Housefly
Domain Eukarya Eukarya Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia Animalia Animalia
Phylum Chordata Chordata Arthropoda
Class Mammalia Mammalia Insecta
Order Primates Carnivora Diptera
Family Hominidae Felidae Muscidae
Genus Pan Felis Musca
Species troglodytes catus domestica
Scientific Pan troglodytes Felis catus Musca domestica
name
