1. Chapter 14 : Classification of Organisms
Taxonomy is the science of naming and classifying organisms.
In this chapter you will learn about the classification system of organisms, as well as how to identify the scientific name of organisms.

2. Scientific Names
Every “known” organisms is given a scientific name. These names are in latin and represent the genus and species of the organism.
Using two names to identify an organism is known as binomial nomenclature.
mountain lion
Felis concolor

3. Scientific Names
A scientific name capitilizes the genus and lower case is used for the species. Both the genus and species are written in italics.
Homo sapiens - you

4. Classifying Organisms
Carl Linnaeus arranged for a system of classifying organisms which uses different groups or taxa.
The form and structure of an organism is used to determine to which groups or taxa it belongs to.

5. Groups : Domain
                                                
All living things are grouped into one of three domains:
Archaea: prokaryotic
Bacteria: prokaryotic
Eukarya: eukaryotic cells
Archaea : bacteria which live in extreme environments

6. Groups
The following are the modern groups in which organisms are classified into :
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species

7. Kingdoms There Eukarya Domain is divided into 4 Kingdoms:
Animalia : animals
Plantae: plants
Fungi : mushrooms, etc.
Protozoans/algae: small organisms
protozoans

8. Kingdom Animalia
The animal kingdom is divided into 9 smaller groups called phyla’s.
Each phyla is divided into groups called classes.
Classes are divided into smaller groups called orders, orders divided into families, families into genus’s, and finally the species.

9. Classification
Organisms are then classified based upon their structures and similarities.
The species is the basic unit of classification.

10. How Biologists Classify
Biologists define a species as a group of natural interbreeding populations.
Species are classified as to their cellular structure, and overall structure, as well as their populations.

11. Classification Criteria
Classification of a species also uses its evolutionary history (phylogeny).
Cladistics is a method of analysis of similar species in the past. A cladogram compares similar species and changes from the fossil record of the past.