Taxonomy

Systematics involves looking at the diversity of living organisms and the relationships between them. It
embraces taxonomy, which is the science of naming an organism, and phylogeny, which is the grouping of
organisms according to how recently they are believed to have diverged from a common ancestor.
The taxonomic hierarchy
The basic unit of biological classification is the species. A species is a group of organisms which have numerous
physical features in common and which are normally capable of interbreeding and producing viable offspring.
Nowadays, biochemical, ecological, behavioural and life-cycle features are included with physical
characteristics in helping to classify species.
Closely related species are grouped together into genera (singular: genus). Genera are grouped into
families, families into orders, orders into classes, and classes into phyla (singular: phylum) and phyla into
kingdoms. (When classifying plants and bacteria, the term division is sometimes used instead of phylum.)
Intermediate categories are sometimes used: for example, a sub-phylum may be inserted between phylum and
class, and sub-classes between class and order.
This ascending series of successively larger, more inclusive, groups makes up the taxonomic hierarchy.
Each grouping of organisms within the hierarchy is called a taxon (plural: taxa) and each taxon has a rank and
a name, for example: class Mammalia or genus Homo.
Classification of three organisms
Rank
Cabbage white butterfly Human
Sweet pea
Phylum Arthropoda
Chordata
Angiospermophyta
Class
Insecta
Mammalia Dicotyledoneae
Order
Lepidoptera
Primates
Rosales
Family Pieridae
Hominidae Papilionaceae
Genus Pieris
Homo
Lathyrus
Species brassica
sapiens
odoratus
Naming organisms
It is customary to name an organism by its genus and species. This is known as the binomial system and was
first introduced in 1753 by the Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus. The generic name is written first and
begins with a capital letter, followed by the specific name which begins with a small letter. Both names are
written in italics or underlined. Closely related organisms, lion and tiger for example, have the same generic
name (in this case Panthera) but different specific names. The lion is Panthera leo and the tiger is Panthera
tigris.
These scientific names are essential whenever precise identification is required, and they enable
scientists to communicate accurately with each other. They are used the world over and have the merit that
everyone knows exactly which organism is being referred to. However, in everyday language people generally
use common names.
The kingdoms
The five kingdoms is most common use for classification purposes are:
Prokaryotae the single-celled prokaryotic organisms (bacteria)
Protoctista often single-celled eukaryotic organisms including protozoa and some of the algae.
Fungi eukaryotic organisms with non-cellulose cell walls, from the single-celled yeasts to the more
complex toadstools.
Plantae eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms including multicellular algae
Animalia non-photosynthetic multicellular organisms with nervous coordination.