Taxonomy Unit 2.1

When you see this image: I want you to COPY the information in the slide INTO your JOURNALS If there is no notepad on the slide then you just have to LISTEN!

Why is taxonomy important in science? Questions to think about: What is taxonomy? Why is taxonomy important in science?

← Remember this means copy! Taxonomy Taxonomy is the science of classifying living things. It is the classification of organisms in a hierarchy of groupings. These groups go from very general, to very specific.

The levels of classification are starting from most general to most specific are: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species Increasing specificity

A way to remember all the Kingdoms: King Phillip Came Over From Germany Swimming Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species.

Or in a song!

Increasing specificity

Organisms are sorted in these groups usually by their morphological (form and structure) characteristics. These include outward appearance like shape, structure, colour, and pattern as well as the form and structure of internal parts like bones and organs.

There are 6 Kingdoms that you must know! 1. Eubacteria 2. Archaebacteria 3. Protista 4. Fungi 5. Plantae 6: Animalia

⅙ Kingdom: 1. Eubacteria: They are prokaryotic micro organisms that have a peptidoglycan cell wall and reproduce by binary fission. Ex. Bacteria and Cyanobacteria

2/6 Kingdom: 2. Archaebacteria: They are prokaryotic micro organisms that don’t have a peptidoglycan cell wall. They thrive in EXTREME environments like salt lakes and thermal vents. Ex. extreme thermophiles and halophiles, methanogens.

3/6 Kingdom: 3. Protista: Most are single celled organisms that do not have cell walls. However multicellular algae is also included. They live in moist or aquatic habitats. Ex. Algae and Protozoa.

4/6 Kingdom: 4. Fungi: They are all heterotrophic organisms that have cell walls. Usually found in terrestrial areas. Ex. Mushrooms, yeasts

⅚ Kingdom: 5. Plantae: They are all multicellular with cell walls. Usually autotrophic organisms found in terrestrial areas. Ex. Mosses, plants, ferns.

6/6 Kingdom: 6. Animalia: They are all heterotrophic and multicellular organisms. They live in both terrestrial and aquatic habitats. They reproduce sexually and do not have cell walls. Ex. Starfish, humans, lions

Who started this system?! Carl Linnaeus http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/science-of-natural-history/biographies/linnaeus/

Carl Linnaeus came up with binomial nomenclature, a method of naming / classifying organisms by using two names - the genus name and the species name.

Why is taxonomy important? 1. Helps scientists classify and group organisms to better understand them. 2. Helps us make predictions about evolution and shows us that every living organism relates to every other organism no matter how different they may be.

Phylogeny 3. Using taxonomy we can study the phylogeny (histories of the evolution of a species or a group of species) of organisms and create phylogenic trees.