Taxonomy

Contents

Key Stage 2

Meaning

Classification of living things is done to make it easier to identify different creatures.

About Grouping Living Things

Living things can be classified in different ways.

Scientists usually classify things by common features or common behaviour.

Examples

Vertebrates and Invertebrates

A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone.

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone.

All of these animals have a backbone so they examples of vertebrates.

Amphibians are vertebrates.	Birds are vertebrates.	Fish are vertebrates.	Mammals are vertebrates.	Reptiles are vertebrates.

None of these animals have a backbone so they are examples of invertebrates.

Snails are invertebrates.	Earthworms are invertebrates.	Scorpions are invertebrates.	Octopuses are invertebrates.	Flies are invertebrates.

Flowering Plants and other Plants

Flowering Plants are plants that grow flowers.

Not all plants grow flowers. There are also Mosses, Ferns and Conifers which don't grow flowers.

There are 4 main groups of plants.

Flowering Plants.	Coniferous Plants.	Mosses	Ferns

Key Stage 4

Meaning

Taxonomy is sorting living organisms into groups based on their similarities.

About Taxonomy

Before the discovery of DNA taxonomy was purely based on the appearance and behaviour of organisms.

Carl Linnaeus developed a system of taxonomy based on the similar characteristics of organisms. Organisms were put into groups and sub-groups:

• Kingdom - The largest group. Examples include animals and plants.
• Phylum - The second largest group. Examples include chordata (animals with a backbone) and Arthropoda (animals with jointed legs and segmented bodies).
• Class - Examples include mammals (humans, neanderthals, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, baboons, lemurs, dolphins, whales, cows, badgers) and birds (crows, ostriches).
• Order - Examples include primates (humans, neanderthals, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, baboons, lemurs) and cetacea (dolphins and whales).
• Family - Examples include hominidae (humans, neanderthals, chimpanzees, bonobos and gorillas) and Cercopithecidae (baboons).
• Genus - Examples include Homo (humans and neanderthals) and Pan (chimpanzees and bonobos).
• Species - Sapien is the name for the human species.

Developments in genetics have further added to this system with three Domains above the Kingdoms:

• Archae - Primitive forms of bacteria.
• Bacteria
• Eukaryota - All eukaryotic organisms.

Analysis of DNA evidence has resulted in many changes to where organisms are placed in the taxonomy system. For example Panda's were once though to be closely related to the weasel but genetic evidence shows they are a type of bear moving them from the family; Mustelidae to the family; Ursidae.