Writing scientific names & using taxons to determine relatedness
NAME ________________________________DATE ____________ BLOCK _____
By classifying organisms, biologists are also able to give them a two part scientific name using a system
called binomial nomenclature. All known living things have a unique scientific name. The first word in
the name represents the organism’s genus, while the second represents their species. Scientific names
are always written in italics or underlined, with the first letter of the genus capitalized and the species
completely in lower case.
For example, a domestic dog is: Canis domesticus
The 8 taxa or classification groups are listed on the left. The largest group or taxon is the domain which
contains the most organisms. The smallest taxon, the species contains the least number of organisms
that are most closely related. Members of the same species can interbreed. Closely related organisms
share certain physical traits. They are assigned particular groups based on these shared traits. The more
traits two organisms share the more taxa they will share, and therefore the more closely related they
are.
Use the following taxonomic chart to answer the questions below:
Taxons
Great white shark Green anole
Box turtle
Domain
Eukarya
Eukarya
Eukarya
Kingdom
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Chordata
Chordata
Class
Chondrichthyes
Reptilia
Reptilia
Order
Lamniformes
Squamata
Testudines
Family
Lamnidae
Polychrotidae
Emydidae
Genus
Carcharodon
Anolis
Terrapene
Species
carcharias
carolinensis
carolina
1. What is the scientific name for the great white shark?
Carcharodon carcharias
2. What is the scientific name for the green anole?
Anolis carolinensis
3. What is the scientific name for the box turtle?
Terrapene carolina
4. Which two organisms are most closely related? How can you tell from the chart?
Green anole & box turtle. They share the same 4 taxa; domain, kingdom, phylum &
class
5. Which organism is least related to the other two? How can you tell?
The great white shark. It only shares 3 taxa; domain, kingdom & phylum
5. Use the following taxonomic chart to write the scientific name for each organism.
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Eukarya
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Proboscidea
Elephantidae
Elephas
maximus
Genus
Species
Eukarya
Animalia
Arthropoda
Malacostraca
Eucarida
Portunidae
Callinectes
sapidus
Eukarya
Protista
Ciliphora
Ciliatea
Phabdophorina
Parameciidae
Paramecium
aurelia
Eukarya
Plantae
Tracheophyta
Angiosperma
Rosales
Rosaceae
Rosa
gallica
Scientific Name:
a. Elephant: Elephas maximus
b. Crab: Callinectes sapidus
c. Paramecium: Paramecium aurelia
d. Rose: Rosa gallica
Use the following taxonomic chart to answer the questions below
6. Which two organisms are most closely related? ____________________________
7. Which organism is least related to the others? ____________________________
8. Which two organisms most likely share a recent common ancestor (because they
share so may traits) ___________________ and _______________________
9. How do you write a scientific name? Which taxa do you use? __________________
10. What is the scientific name of the American badger? ___________ ____________