1. The science of naming and grouping organisms
Taxonomy
The science of naming and grouping organisms

2. We’re going to talk about TAXONOMY (classifying names)…
not to be confused with TAXIDERMY (classifying skins)!!
Not this!

3. The first taxonomist was Aristotle, a Greek philosopher (384-322 BC)
He placed all organisms into two groups using simple names
Plant
Animal OR
crawl
shrub
fly
tree
herb
swim

4. Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778) binomial nomenclature First word = genus
Swedish botanist & physician
Grouped organisms based on their physical and structural similarities
Described organisms with two word names:
binomial nomenclature
First word = genus
Second word = species
What do you think “binomial nomenclature” means?

5. Why binomial nomenclature?
Scientific name - “two word naming system”
Uses Latin, a “dead”, unchanging language. Why is this a good idea? (Organisms have the same name no matter where you go or what language you speak!)
Genus is written first, then species
Genus is capitalized, species is not. Both are italicized if typed, underlined if written.

6. Taxonomic hierarchy
Names organisms and their relationships from very broad to very specific
Can anyone name all 7 taxa????
Kingdom…

7. Organisms are classified in a hierarchy
Kingdom (broadest)
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species (most specific)

8. Mnemonic Devices King’s Play Chess On Fat Guy’s Stomach
King Philip Came Over For Green Spaghetti
Kangaroo Pouches Can Only Fit Green Skittles
Katie Plays Clarinet On Fast Green Skis
What can you come up with?

9. But what are Domains???
Recently, some major differences between cell types became known. This led to the development of a new taxonomic category – the domain.
A domain is larger than a Kingdom.
There are 3 domains:
Eukarya (animals, plants, protists, fungi)
Bacteria (Kingdom Eubacteria)
Archea (Kingdom Archaebacteria)

11. Why is taxonomy useful? Helps prevent confusion among scientists
Helps to show how organisms are related
Can be used to reconstruct phylogenies – evolutionary histories – of an organism or group

12. Phylogenetic Tree

13. Cladograms
Graph showing when different groups diverged from a common ancestral line
Points where they split are often noted with a feature that was different between ancestral group and a “new” feature in the group that split off.

14. Cladogram

15. Dinosaur Cladogram

16. THE END
(Nothing is cuter than a baby sloth with shampoo horns!)