Classification of Living
Things:
Classification
Major Kingdoms
History of Classification
 Aristotle


384 BC
Species were
identified as Plants
or Animals
History of Classification
 Carolus



Linnaeus
1707-1778
Developed our modern
classification system
Binomial nomenclature
(two names)
• Ex. Homo sapiens
CAPITALIZED
lowercase
Italicize!!!
Linnaean Classification
 Organizes
organisms into groups and
subgroups based on evolutionary
relationships
 Often revised when new relationships are
discovered (DNA evidence)

Example: Pseudocalanus spp.
Classification levels:
 Kingdom
(broad)
 Phylum
 Class
 Order
 Family
 Genus
 Species
(specific)
6 Kingdoms of Life
Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates and WH Freeman
http://cas.bellar
mine.edu/tietje
n/ZooLabs/Intr
oduction%20to
%20Taxonomy.
htm
Prokaryotic Kingdoms
 The


Monera Kingdom  split into
Kingdom Eubacteria
Kingdom Archaebacteria
 Only
kingdoms of prokaryotic organisms
 Have a cell wall
 Lack membrane-bound organelles
 Lack multicellular forms.
Kingdom Archaebacteria

Unicellular
 Prokayotic
 Extreme environments (near volcanic activity) 
don’t need oxygen, light
 Three divisions of archaebacteria:



Methanogens: methane producing organisms
Thermophiles: These can live in extremely hot, acidic
environments like sulfur springs.
Halophiles: Can only live in bodies of concentrated
salt water, like the Dead Sea.
KINGDOM EUBACTERIA




Unicellular
Prokaryotic
Extreme environments
HETEROTROPHS:


This bacteria lives about anywhere, including in your body in the
form of a parasite.
AUTOTROPHS:


Obtain energy through photosynthesis.
blue-green bacteria  chlorophyll
• They live in chains in ponds, lakes, and moist regions.

CHEMOTROPHS:

Produce energy by converting inorganic matter into organic
matter.
http://danmarkltd.tripod.com/taxonomy/id6.html
Kingdom Protista
 The
most ancient eukaryotic kingdom
 A variety of eukaryotic body forms:



Can be single-celled, colonial, or multicellular
Can be heterotrophic or autotrophic
Basically eukaryotes that are NOT fungi,
animals, or plants.
Kingdom Fungi





Eukaryotic
Heterotrophic
Usually multicellular group  multinucleated
cells enclosed in cells with cell walls
Obtain energy by decomposition and absorption
Some fungi 


Cause disease (yeast infections, rusts, and smuts),
Others are useful in baking, brewing, and sources for
antibiotics.
http://mycorrhizas.
info/ecmf.html
Kingdom Plantae
 Immobile
 Multicellular
eukaryotes
 Produce their food by photosynthesis
(autotrophs)
 Cell wall (cellulose)
 Important sources of oxygen, food, and
clothing/construction materials, as well as
pigments, spices, dyes, and drugs.
Kingdom Animalia
 Multicellular
 Heterotrophic
eukaryotes
 Mobile at some stage during their lives
 Lack cell walls
 Animals provide food, clothing, fats,
scents, companionship, and labor.
Cladistics

Organisms are defined and
grouped based on shared
features (called characters)
derived from a common ancestor.
Cladistics
Uses branching diagrams called cladograms
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/phylogenetics_02
Parts of a Cladogram
Branches
Organism
Node  Name of Group
Feature(s) or Character(s)
Reading a Cladogram
 Each
“V” shows
organisms that share a
common ancestor
Organism B
Organism A
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms
A and B
Reading a Cladogram
 The
smaller the V, the
more closely related the
organisms are…
Organism B
Organism A
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms
A and B
…and the more
characters they
share…
Reading a Cladogram
Organism B
Organism A
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms
A and B
All the characters
below the V!
Reading a Cladogram
Organism C
Organism B
Organism A
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms
A, B and C
Reading a Cladogram
Organism B
Organism C
Organism D
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms A,
B, C and D
Organism A
Reading a Cladogram
Organism B
Organism C
Organism D
Organism E
Common
Ancestor of
Organisms A,
B, C, D and E
Organism A
Step 1: Make a table
NES
Directional
Pad
Curved
Edge
Control
Stick
Wireless
Motion
Sensitive
SNES
N64
GameCube
Wii Remote
Step 2: Complete a Venn
Diagram
Step 3: Draw a Cladogram