Download Classification

Mollusks
Shell Sort of Mollusks
Classification
Notes page 16
QUESTION???
WHAT IS A
SPECIES????
ANSWER…
POPULATION OF SAME
ORGANISMS THAT
SHARE SIMILAR
CHARACTERISTICS
AND CAN PRODUCE
FERTILE OFFSPRING
So are ligers a species? Mules?


Donkey x Horse
Lion × Tiger
No- they are sterile
(because of their mixed
genes)
 Therefore cannot be called
their own species!

QUESTION?
HOW MANY SPECIES
HAVE BEEN
IDENTIFIED ON
EARTH?
ANSWER…
1.5 MILLION

There are approximately:
 4,500 species of mammals
 5,500 of amphibians
 8,000 reptiles
 10,000 birds
 30,000 marine species currently recognized
Doesn’t include the untold numbers of invertebrates,
bacteria and smaller beings -it is believed that there
are 15,000-20,000 species of butterflies alone!
QUESTION?
HOW MANY SPECIES
DO SCIENTISTS
ESTIMATE HAVE
YET TO BE
DISCOVERED?
ANSWER…
BETWEEN 2 MILLION
AND 100 MILLION!
Deep sea
 Amazon rainforest
 Hydrothermal vents
 Bacteria and other microscopic
organisms

QUESTION?
WHY DO WE CLASSIFY
ORGANISMS?
ANSWER…
TO NAME AND GROUP
ORGANISMS IN A
LOGICAL MANNER
 So

By
what is “logical?”
Size?
Shape? Color? Diet?
Habitat?
TAXONOMY
 Scientific
classification and grouping
of organisms into universally
accepted groups and names
AGAIN…WHY CLASSIFY?
Scientists from all countries and all
languages
 How do they communicate in a universal
language?
 i.e. cougar, mountain
lion, panther, or puma???

CONCLUSIONS
 Scientists
concluded they needed one
name for every identified species
 Based on Latin and Greek languages

Most universal
Latin is the most universal
WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Often describe physical characteristics

Could be 20 Latin root words long!!
THE SOLUTION…

BINOMIAL NOMENCLATURE
 Carolus Linnaeus
 2-part scientific name assigned
 Always italicized
 First letter always Capitalized
 Second word always lower case
 Genus species

Example:
Balaenoptera musculus
(Blue Whale)
LINNAEUS’ SYSTEM
Hierarchal system
 7 levels
 Smallest  largest
 Most specific 
broadest
 Each level = taxon

smallest
THE LEVELS
Kings
 Play
 Chess
 On
 Fuzzy
 Green
 Stools

largest
Kings
Play
Chess
On
Fuzzy
Green
Stools
TAXONOMY EXAMPLE







Species = members of
same species
Genus = group of
closely related species
Family = similar
genera
Order = similar
families
Class = similar orders
Phylum = similar
classes
Kingdom = all animals
Species = polar bear
(maritimus)
 Genus = 5 kinds of
bears (Ursus)
 Family = (Ursidae)





Order = bears, cats
and dogs (Carnivora)
Class =(Mammalia)
Phylum = (Chordata)
Kingdom = (Animalia)
FINISHED PRODUCT
 Kingdom
– Animalia
Phylum – Chordata
Class – Mammalia
Order – Carnivora
Family – Ursidae
Genus – Ursus
Species – maritimus