Classification of Living Things
All living things are classified into 3 domains
• Archaea-very primitive forms of bacteria
• Eubacteria-More advance forms of
bacteria
• Eukaryota-all life forms with eukaryotic
cells including plants and animals.
Eukaryota domain is divided into
several groups called KINGDOMS
• Moneran-Unicellular, Prokaryotic, Autotroph or
Heterotroph—This kingdom is now broken up
into 2 domains!!
– Bacteria, microscopic organisms
• Protist-Organism with just one eukaryotic cell,
Autotroph and Heterotroph, Motile
– Protozoan, Ameba, Algea, mostly microscopic
• Fungi-Multicellular, heterotroph, specialized cell
wall
– Mushrooms, molds
• Plants-multicellular, autotroph (by way of photosynthesis),
sessile
– Trees, grasses, flowers, moss, ferns
• Animals-multicellular, motile, specialized
tissue/organs/organ systems, heterotroph
– Snails to birds to mammals (humans), sponges, worms, insects, fish,
anphibians, reptiles
Full Classification of Human:
Domain Eukarya
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Sub Phylum Vertebrata
Class Mammalia
Order Primates
Family Hominidae
Genus-Homo
Species-Sapian
Today’s classification system is
based mostly on similarities in
______________& ____________.
• Structure
• Evolutionary relationships
ORGANISM
GROUP NAME
HUMAN
CHIMPANZEE
HOUSE CAT
LION
HOUSEFLY
KINGDOM
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
Animalia
PHYLUM
Chordate
Chordate
Chordate
Chordate
Arthropoda
CLASS
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Mammal
Insect
ORDER
Primates
Primates
Carnivora
Carnivora
Diptera
FAMILY
Hominidae
Pongidae
Felidae
Felidae
Muscidae
GENUS
Homo
Pan
Felis
Felis
Musca
SPECIES
sapiens
troglodytes
domestica
leo
domestica
Scientific Name
Homo sapiens
Pan troglodytes
Felis domestica
Felis leo
Musca domestica
•
NOTES :
– 1) all 5 of the organisms are classified as animals because they are multicellular,
have eukaryotic cells, are heterotrophic, & capable of moving (motile)
– 2) the human, chimp, cat & lion have enough similar characteristics that they are
put in the same phylum & in the same class too
–
3) the defining characteristics of each subgroup (as you go down a column) become
more & more specific. the shared characteristics of the members of a kingdom are
broad, the shared characteristics of members of a species are very specific.
– 4) in order for two organisms to be in the same "small" group, they must also be in
all the same "big" groups above it. for example : if two organisms are in the same
ORDER, they must be in the same class, phylum & kingdom. even though the cat &
the housefly have the same species group name (domestica), they CAN'T BE the
same species because they are not in the same genus, family, order, etc. In fact, that
last group name (species) doesn't really mean anything all by itself. The correct,
full species name is the organism's two-part scientific name (see #5).
– 5) REALLY IMPORTANT : every organism is given a scientific name which
consists of its genus name (1st) & species name (2nd). This is called binomial
nomenclature (bi-nomial = 2-names) & is attributed to Carolus Linnaeus
(remember him ?). so a human's scientific name is Homo sapiens, a lion's is Felis
leo, a house cat's is Felis domesticas, etc. In a SCIENTIFIC NAME, the genus name
should be capitalized & the species name lowercase, & both should be either
italicized or underlined.
– 6) the closer the evolutionary relationship between two organisms, the more groups
they have in common. so of the 5 in this chart, the cat & lion are most closely
related (they are classified together in the first 6 groups). A human is more related
to a chimp (4 groups in common) than to a lion (only 3 common groups).
KINGDOM NAME
KEY CHARACTERISTICS
EXAMPLES
UNICELLULAR
PROKARYOTIC
BACTERIA
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
MOSTLY UNICELLULAR
EUKARYOTIC
SOME COLONIAL
AMEBA
PARAMECIUM
EUGLENA
ALGAE
FUNGI
MOSTLY MULTICELLULAR
EUKARYOTIC
HETEROTROPHIC
SESSILE
MUSHROOMS
MOLDS & MILDEWS
YEAST (unicellular)
PLANT
MULTICELLULAR
EUKARYOTIC
AUTOTROPHIC
SESSILE
CELL WALLS made of CELLULOSE
MOSS
FERNS
FLOWERING PLANTS
BUSHES
TREES
ANIMAL
MULTICELLULAR
EUKARYOTIC
HETEROTROPHIC
MOTILE
SPECIALIZED SENSE ORGANS
INSECTS
JELLYFISH, HYDRA
CRABS
FISH
BIRDS
LIONS,TIGERS,BEARS (oh my !)
MONERA
PROTISTA
Yes, I know it looks like a lot to remember. But who said this wasn't
going to require you to WORK ? Here are a couple generalizations that
may help you keep some of that table straight :
• 1) only 1 Kingdom has organisms that are
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prokaryotic (the Moneran Kingdom)
2) For the most part, any organism that is unicellular
& eukaryotic is a Protist (one exception is YEAST, a
unicellular fungus)
3) Fungi have the same characteristics as Plants
except that Fungi are heterotrophic & Plants are
autotrophic, and their cell walls are different
4) Animals are the only motile multicellular group
5) Most of the autotrophic organism we study have
chlorophyll which gives them a greenish
appearance. So being "green" is an important clue --it indicates they are autotrophic (ex: blue-green
algae, algae, plants).
WHAT KINGDOM IS IT ?!
For each description or example, name the kingdom it belongs
in. Your choices are : animal, plant, fungi, protist or
moneran. Jot down all your answers & then we will look at
the answers.
1. one-celled organism, eukaryotic, has structures for moving
2. green, multicellular, sessile, cellulose cell walls
3. an Ameba
4. multicellular, eukaryotic cells, obtains food from its
environment, flies
5. colony of eukaryotic cells, autotrophic
6. sessile, heterotrophic, multicellular
7. eukaryotic cells with cell walls composed of cellulose
8. unicellular, no nucleus visible
9. yeast
10. bacteria
ANSWERS!!
1.protist
2. plant
3. protist
4. animal
5. protist
6. fungus
7. plant
8. moneran
9. fungus
10. moneran
KINGDOM
MONERA
PROTIST
FUNGI
PHYLUM
CHARACTERISTICS
EXAMPLE(S)
blue-green algae
autotrophic
blue-green algae
bacteria
heterotrophic
Streptococcus
Staphylococcus
algae
(plant-like)
autotrophic
"sea weeds"
diatoms
Spirogyra
protozoa
(animal-like)
heterotrophic
Ameba
Paramecium
the thing to remember about this kingdom is that most are multicellular (mushrooms, molds,
mildew) and a few are unicellular (yeast). don't worry about specific phyla names. :)
bryophyte
nonvascular plants (small & simple)
mosses
liverworts
tracheophyte
vascular plants
trees
flowering plants
ferns
coelenterates
tentacles
hollow body cavity
PLANTS
annelids
arthropods
worms with segmented bodies
exoskeletons
jointed legs
ANIMAL
chordates
have a notochord (nerve chord) & usually a
backbone
hydra
jellyfish
earthworm
grasshoppers
lobsters
spiders
humans & other mammals
birds
reptiles
amphibians
fish
Use the table to answer the following questions:
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1) The presence of vascular tissue for transporting liquids is characteristic of :
A. ferns
B. mosses
C. slime molds
D. algae
2) Which protists contain chlorophyll (a green substance necessary for
photosynthesis) ?
A. Ameba
B. algae
C. moss
D. Paramecium
3) The animal-like protists are :
A. algae
B. Annelids
C. protozoa
D. yeast
4) Euglena is a eukaryotic single-celled organism that possesses chlorophyll but has
no cell wall. It also has a mouth & swims using a structure called a flagellum. It is
most reasonable to classify Euglena as a :
A. plant
B. animal
C. protist
D. blue-green algae
5) Low growing plants without vascular tissues are classified as :
A. bryophytes
B. algae
C. tracheophytes
D. mushrooms
• 6) Two animals are the same species of they :
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A. live in the same environment
B. show a very close resemblance
C. can mate & produce fertile offspring
D. eat the same foods
7) Bacteria & blue-green algae belong to which kingdom ?
A. animal
B. plant
C. fungi
D. monera
8) Which group are NOT invertebrates (animals without backbones) ?
A. coelenterates
B. chordates
C. annelids
D. arthropods
9) Which animal is correctly matched with its phylum ?
A. whale - coelenterate
B. honey bee - arthropods
C. spider - chordate
D. snake - annelid
10) Whales have hair, are warm-blooded, & nurse their young. Therefor
they are classified in the same class with :
A. fish
B. lobsters
C. tigers
D. turtles
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tHE CoRRect AnSWerS are IN GREEN
1)
A. ferns - vascular plants are classified as TRACHEOPHYTES, ferns are an example
B. mosses - are NONVASCULAR
C. slime molds - are FUNGI
D. algae - are PROTISTS
2)
A. Ameba - are animal-like protists (PROTOZOA)
B. algae - chlorophyll is a clue for photosynthesis (autotrophic nutrition), alage are
the plant-like (autotrophic) protists
C. moss - are PLANTS, not protists
D. Paramecium - are animal-like protists (PROTOZOA)
3)
A. algae - are the plant-like protists
B. Annelids - earthworms
C. protozoa - proto- (protists), -zoa (zoo = animal)
D. yeast - unicellular fungus
4)
A. plant - multicellular
B. animal - multicellular
C. protist - since it is "unicellular" it has to be either a moneran or a protist, since its
"eukaryotic" Euglena is classified as a protist
D. blue-green algae - unicellular but prokaryotic (a MONERAN)
5)
A. bryophytes - ALL NONVASCULAR plants
B. algae - are PROTISTS, not plants
C. tracheophytes - are VASCULAR plants
D. mushrooms - are FUNGI
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6)
A. live in the same environment
B. show a very close resemblance
C. can mate & produce fertile offspring - a definition to MEMORIZE
D. eat the same foods
7)
A. animal
B. plant
C. fungi
D. monera - a fact to MEMORIZE
8)
A. coelenterates - invertebrate (hydra, jellyfish, coral)
B. chordates - animals with nerve chords ("notochords") protected by backbones
C. annelids - invertebrate (segmented worms - earthworm)
D. arthropods - invertebrate (all INSECTS, lobsters, spiders, crabs)
9)
A. whale - coelenterate
B. honey bee - arthropods (INSECTS are one CLASS within the arthropod phylum)
C. spider - chordate
D. snake - annelid
10)
A. fish - scales, no hair, lay eggs in water, cold-blooded
B. lobsters - an INVERTEBRATE (arthropod)
C. tigers - have hair, warm-blooded, nurse young (a MAMMAL, like the whale)
D. turtles - scales, no hair, lay eggs on land, cold-blooded