Taxonomy

taxonomy

the branch of science that identifies, describes, names, and classifies organisms

taxonomist

someone who studies taxonomy

classification

method used to group and organize organisms

Carolus Linnaeus

came up with binomial nomenclature

binomial nomenclature

2-word naming system; first word is the genus and is capitalized, second word is the species and is lowercase

taxon

each level of classification

three domains

archaea, bacteria, and eukarya

Kingdom Archaebacteria

prokaryotic, unicellular, autotrophic and heterotrophic, have cells walls without peptidoglycan, and live in harsh environments

Kingdom Eubacteria

prokaryotic, unicellular, autotrophic and heterotrophic, and have cells walls with peptidoglycan

Kingdom Animalia

eukaryotic, multicellular, heterotrophic, and no cell walls

Kingdom Plantae

eukaryotic, multicellular, autotrophic, and have cell walls made of cellulose

Kingdom Fungi

eukaryotic, mostly multicellular though some are unicellular, heterotrophic, and have cell walls made of chitin

Kingdom Protista

eukaryotic, mostly unicellular though some are multicellular, autotrophic and heterotrophic, and have cell walls made of cellulose

dichotomous key

used to identify organisms

Classification levels from broadest to narrowest

Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species

clade

a group of organisms in a phylogenetic tree that includes a single common ancestor and all of its descendants, living or extinct

node

represents a common ancestor in a phylogenetic tree