Classification of
Living Things
TAXONOMY =
_______________
branch of biology that names
and groups organisms
according to their
CHARACTERISTICS
_________________________
Does it have a backbone? Feathers? Gills?
Flippers?
EVOLUTIONARY
HISTORY
__________________________
How has organism changed in fossil record?
What other organisms is it related to?
(300 B.C.)
The first person to
group or classify
organisms was the
Greek teacher &
philosopher
ARISTOTLE
_______________
more than 2000
years ago.
Aristotle 384 B.C.E. (Before Common Era)
Classified organisms as
either plants or animals
 He developed the first
two kingdoms
 Today we now have six
identified kingdoms
 Animal, plant, protist,
eubacteria,
archaebacteria, fungi

4
Aristotle’s Classification System
16th Century Classification System
17th Century
Problems?
Common names (popular
name)can be misleading
Ex:
A jelly fish isn’t a fish, but a
seahorse is!
Sea cucumber
sounds like a plant
but… it’s an animal!
Problems?
Common names vary from
place to place
Ex: puma,
catamount,
mountain lion,
cougar
are all names
for same animal
Problems?
Same organisms have different
names in different countries.
Chipmunk
Streifenhornchen
(German)
Tamia (Italian)
Ardilla listada (Spanish)
Image from: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/wildlife/chipmunk_pictures.htm
Solution?
Some early scientists devised
scientific names using long
descriptions in LATIN.
RED OAK
Quercus foliis obtuse-sinuatis
setaceo-mucronatis
RED OAK
Quercus foliis obtuse-sinuatis
setaceo-mucronatis
“oak with leaves with deep blunt lobes
bearing hair like bristles”
PROBLEMS?
Names too hard and long to
remember!
Names don’t show relationships
between different animals
Carolus Linnaeus comes
to the rescue!
Devised a new
classification system
based on
_________________
MORPHOLOGY
(Organism’s form and
structure)
(1707-1778)
Image from: http://www.medusozoa.com/images/linnaeus.jpg
Carolus Linnaeus 1707-1778





Classification system
Taxonomic groups of
related organisms
Came up with the
scientific name (two
names)
Homo sapiens
Also known as binomial
nomenclature
14
Linnaeus’s System
Grouped in a HIERARCHY
_____________
of 7 different levels
Each organism has a two
part LATIN
SCIENTIFIC NAME
__________________
17
Species

Organisms that can only
reproduce with their own kind.
?
18
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Each is called a taxa or taxon.
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Carnivora
Family Felidae
Genus Panthera
Species leo
Scientific Name
Vampire bat
Desmodus rotundus
Image from: http://212.84.179.117/i/Vampire%20Bat.jpg
Eastern chipmunk
Tamias striatus
Image from: http://www.entm.purdue.edu/wildlife/chipmunk_pictures.htm
Our Scientific Name
Humans
Homo sapiens
Homo sapiens
Image from: http://www.earlylearning.ubc.ca/images/photo_baby.jpg
Classification of Man
Kingdom
 Phylum
 Class
 Order
 Family
 Genus
 Species

Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Primates
Hominidae
Homo
Homo sapiens
24
Modern Taxonomy
Kidspiration by Riedell
Hint for 6 Kingdoms:
Aunt = Archaebacteria
 Patty = Protist
 Eats= Eubacteria
 Pizza = Plant
 And = Animal
 Fruit = Fungi

Kingdom Eubacteria
Single celled
 Prokaryotic
 Make or absorb food
 Cell wall

◦ peptidoglycan
27
Kingdom Archaebacteria
Single celled
 Prokaryotic
 Make or absorb food
 DNA

◦ Similar to Eukaryotic

Cell wall
◦ Pseudopeptidoglycan
or protein only
28
Kingdom Protist
Single celled
 Eukaryotic
 Ingest or produce
food

29
Kingdom Fungi
Multicellular
 Eukaryotic
 Cell wall

◦ Chitin

Absorb food
30
Kingdom Plantae
Multicellular
 Eukaryotic
 Cell wall

◦ Cellulose

Produce food
(autotroph)
◦ photosynthesis
31
Kingdom Animalia





Multicellular
Eukaryotic
Heterotroph
Movement for
survive
Sexual
Reproduction
32
MODERN TAXONOMY
organizes
living things
in the context of
_________________
Evolution
How the organism has
changed over
time…years.
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/dino/FlyingDinosaurus-Pterodon-fossil.jpg
Cladogram
Evolutionary
relationship of a
group of organisms
 Each clad (group)
share something in
common
 Ancestral traits are
the oldest
 Derived traits evolved
later

34
Cladogram for Transportation
Wheels are the most
ancestral
 Wings are the most
derived

35
Construct a Cladogram
36
Gorilla
Four limbs
 Fur
 Lost tail

37
Tiger
Four limbs
 Fur
 Tail

38
Lizard
Four limbs
 Tail

39
Fish

Tail
40
Chimpanzee
Four limbs
 Fur
 Lost tail

41
Clad With 4 Limbs
42
Clad With Fur
43
Clad With No Tail
44
Gorilla Tail?

How do we know the
gorilla lost its tail?
45
Gorilla’s Vestigial Tail
Gorilla
Human
46
Mammals
Birds
Reptiles
Amphibians
Fish
47
MODERN TAXONOMY
Scientists use different kinds of info
to classify organisms:
1. ___________________
Fossil record How organisms have changed over time
2. ____________________
Morphology Shape and function
3. ______________________
Embryology: development in womb
Chromosomes
4. ______________________
DNA
5. ______________________
Embryology= zygote, embryo, fetus
1. FOSSIL RECORD
We can trace some changes
over time through the fossil record.
Evolutionary history
= _____________
PHYLOGENY
http://www.familyeducation.com/printables/display/0,2361,1650,00.gif
2. MORPHOLOGY
Shape and Function
Image from:
http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/evolution12/evolutionclues.html
Image from: http://www.angelfire.com/ab7/evolution12/evolutionclues.html
Bat wing
and human arm
develop from
same embryonic
structures
ANALOGOUS
Bird wing and
STRUCTURES
butterfly wing
have evolved with
similar function
BUT
different structure
inside.
http://uk.dk.com/static/cs/uk/11/clipart/bird/image_bird003.html
Insects and birds
NOT closely related!
http://www.naturenorth.com/butterfly/images/05a%20tiger%20wing.jpg
3. EMBRYOLOGY
Animals whose embryos develop
in a similar pattern may be related
Image from: http://calspace.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/litu/03_3.shtml
Kidspiration by Riedell
Image sources: see end of show
Image Sources
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/2428/directory.html
http://www.gifs.net
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/homepage.htm
http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/blaine/
http://www.kidskonnect.com/Lions/lion.gif
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/trimethylamine/fish.gif
http://www.ca4h.org/4hresource/clipart/animals/pics/dog.gif
http://www.madlantern.com/clipart/cindexw.htm
http://www.drtoy.com/news/
http://anthro.palomar.edu/animal/images/platypus.gif
http://www.gifs.net
http://www.dallas-zoo.org/featured/featured.asp?page=wc
http://www.animationlibrary.com
http://www.dynamicearth.co.uk/education/images/tree_frog.jpg