1. TAXONOMY

2. Taxonomy Field of biology that identifies and classifies organisms
Linnaeus Classification: hierarchy of taxa (group) ranked from the broadest, most general groups to the smallest, most specific groups

3. Taxa “Don King Philip Came Over For Good Spaghetti” D = Domain
K = Kingdom
P = Phylum**
C = Class
O = Order
F = Family
G = Genus
S = Species
**Plants are divided into Divisions instead of phyla

4. Example: House Cat

5. Binomial Nomenclature
Two-name naming
An organisms scientific name consists of the genus name and the species name
The genus is capitalized and the species is not
The species must be in italics or underlined
i.e. Felis sylvestris or Felis sylvestris
The genus can be abbreviated to a single letter
F. sylvestris

6. Phylogeny Evolutionary classification
The higher the level of taxon, the farther back in time the common ancestor is
An analysis of derived characteristics is used to generate a cladogram
These diagrams use similarities to show the evolutionary relationships
Derived characteristics are used as milestones of evolution to better organize different species

7. Example of a Cladogram