Classification of Species
Ka Hana ‘Imi Na‘auao – A Science Careers Curriculum Resource
Go to: www.cds.hawaii.edu/kahana
Classification Rules
 All organisms have 7 names describing
them.
 But only the last 2 names are the
scientific name.
 Just like you! Your first name and your
last name.
Classification Rules
 Scientific name: Homo sapien
 All scientific names are italic or
underlined, NOT bold.
 The first name is capitalized, the
second name is lower case.
 Names are in Latin… why??
Carolus Linnaeus
 The father of taxonomy, also known
as Carl von Linné, used Latin to begin
our modern classification system
because in the 1700s most educated
people understood it.
 Linnaeus, a botanist, physician and
zoologist, also is considered the father of ecology.
Classification Hierarchy
Most Broad
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Scientific
Order
Name
Family
Genus
Species
Most Specific
Scientific Names are Unique
 No two organisms share the same
name, unless they are the same thing.
 The genus name is like your last name.
Several people belong to your family.
 The species name is like your first
name. You are a specific person in
your family.
Kingdoms
 Two bacteria kingdoms
 Kingdom
Archaebacteria - loves
extreme environments
(say: ARK-ee-bak-TIRee-ah)
 Kingdom Eubacteria loves to live on your
food and your skin
(say: YOO-bak-TIR-eeah)
 Oldest known forms of
life.
Kingdoms
 Kingdom Protista
(say: PRO-tis-tah)
 Has characteristics
of all kingdoms.
 They do not fit the
criteria for any one
kingdom, so they
have their own.
Kingdoms
 Kingdom Fungi
(say: FUNG-guy)
 Mushrooms, molds,
spores
 Though they look
like plants, they
have no true root
system and cannot
make their own
food.
Kingdoms
 Kingdom Plantae
(say: PLAN-tee in US,
PLAN-tay in UK)
 Includes all land
plants.
 All organisms make
food from the sun,
and have roots.
Kingdoms
 Kingdom Animalia
(say: AN-i-mahl-ya in US
or an-i-MAY-lee-ah in
UK)
 Largest kingdom.
 Coral, worms, jellyfish,
spiders, starfish, crabs,
clams, fish, dogs, lions,
snakes, monkeys,
bats, humans, etc.
 All organisms need to
consume something to
survive.
Classification Hierarchy
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
Classification Hierarchy
Kingdom: Animalia
What organism is this?
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae
(say FEL-uh-die in US,
FEL-uh-day in UK)
Genus: Lynx
Species: rufus
Scientific Name: Lynx rufus
Common Name: Bobcat
Do I Use Scientific Names?
You use it all the time and probably don’t even know it!
Why is this organism
called a K-9?
What is this called?
Ford F-150
Genus: Ford
Species: F-150
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis