taxonomy

Taxonomy

The branch of science concerned with classification, especially organisms.

Greeks and roman grouped animals and plants into basic units of groups (cats, oaks)

Classification allows scientists to:

  • Communicate with other scientists and others about their research

  • Find and work more easily

  • Group phenomena that have significance

Many organisms have several different common name

 

1700s Carolus Linnaeus

Devoted his life to cataloguing all different kinds of organisms known to science.

He adopted a polynomial system

The shorthand binomial (two name) system became universally accepted.

 

The Taxonomic Hierarchy

A taxon is a named group of organisms - 8 levels (family, order, class)

 

 

 

Do Keep Ponds Clean Or Fish Get Sick

Domains are the newest level - only 3 domains

The more taxonomic levels organisms share, the more closely related they are considered to be.

 

The Binomial System

Have two names

  • First part of the scientific name is the genus

    • Always written first and capitalised

    • Italics

  • Second part is the species name

    • Lowercase

    • Italics 

 

Modern Taxonomy and Advances

  • Molecular Taxonomy: Uses genetic data to classify organisms.

  • DNA Barcoding: Technique that uses a short genetic sequence from a standard part of the genome (e.g., mitochondrial DNA) to identify species.

  • Bioinformatics: Software and databases used to analyze genetic sequences for classification.

 

 

Phylogeny

The study of evolutionary relationships among organisms

Cladograms are diagrams that’s how the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms

 

 

Other classifications models include Venn diagrams which show Hierarchy and grouping relationships.

 

Dichotomous keys

'divided into two parts'

Tool that provides the reader with two statements (choices) that describe characteristics about items.

Used to classify living organisms

(have fur, over 6 legs, having scales)

A dichotomous key is a tool used in taxonomy to help identify organisms based on their characteristics. It is a structured method that guides users through a series of two-choice questions (dichotomous means "divided into two parts") to narrow down the identity of an organism.