Classification

Biodiversity

-There are 13 Billion known species of organisms

-This is about 5% of all organisms that ever lived 

What is classification?

-Classification is the arrangement of organisms into orderly groups based on their similarities

-Classification is known as taxonomy

-Taxonomists are scientists that identify and name organisms

Benefits of Classifying

-Accurately and uniformly names organisms 

-Prevents misnomers such as starfish and jellyfish that aren’t really fish

-Uses same language (Mostly Latin or sometimes Greek) for all names

Naming Organisms

-Two-word name (Genus and species)

Eg. Humans: Homo Sapiens

Problems in Classifying Organisms

-species have inter breeding

Standardized Naming

-Binomial nomenclature used

-Genus species

-Latin or Greek

-Italicized in print

-Capitalise genus, but not species

-Underline when writing

Eg. Homo sapiens

Canis familiaris. ITS SHO FLUFFAY XD