1. Taxonomy, The Science of Classifying Organisms
Brought To You By
Carolus Linnaeus

2. Why Classify? (page 447)
1. Why do biologists use a classification system to study the diversity of life?
2. The science of classifying organisms and assigning them universally accepted names is known as
taxonomy
3. Is the following sentence true or false? In a good system of classification, organisms placed into a particular group are less similar to each other than they are to organisms in other groups.
They use a classification system to name and group organisms logically.

3. Means “ two naming system”
Assigning Scientific Names (page 448)
4. Why is it confusing to refer to organisms by common names?
5. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about early efforts at naming organisms.
a. Names were usually in English.
b. Names often described detailed physical characteristics of a species.
c. Names could be very long.
d. It was difficult to standardize the names.
6. The two-word naming system developed by Linnaeus is called
Called Moose in the USA
Called Elk in Britain
Common names vary from country to country. A single species can share more
Than one common name.
Buzzard in USA
Buzzard in Britain
Binomial Nomenclature
Means “ two naming system”

4. 7. Circle the letter of each sentence that is true about binomial nomenclature.
a. The system is no longer in use today.
b. Each species is assigned a two-part scientific name.
c. The scientific name is always written in italics.
d. The second part of the scientific name is capitalized.
8. What is the genus of the grizzly bear, Ursus arctos?
The genus is “Ursus”.

5. Kingdom Linnaeus System of Classification (pages 449-450)
9. A group or level of organization in taxonomy is called a taxonomic category, or Taxon (taxa is plural)
10. The largest taxonomic category in Linnaeus’s system of classification is the _________ and the smallest is the _____.
11. What two kingdoms did Linnaeus name?
Plantae and Animalia kingdoms
Kingdom
Species

6. Kings Play Chess On Fine Green Silk
12. Fill in the name of each missing taxonomic category in the chart below.
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata - backbones
Class
Mammalia – nurse young
Order
Carnivora – Shearing molars
Family
Ursidae - Bears
Genus
Ursus –”Typical Bears”
Species
Ursus arctos

7. Closely related species are grouped in the same genus
Acinonyx jubatus
Panthera leo
Panthera uncia
Cheetah
Snow leopard
Puma concolor
Panthera tigris
Panthera pardus
Tiger
Mountain. lion
Leopard

8. Cat Phylogenetic (family) Tree
The rare “Flying Cat”
Felifloatis apodis

9. Scientific names give descriptive info:
House fly a) Graptemys geographica
Red maple b) Apis melliflora
Indian elephant c) Acer rubrum
Map turtle d) Musca domestica
Honey bee e) Elephas maximus

10. Reviewing Key Concepts
Short Answer On the lines provided, answer the following questions.
1. As biologists classify the diversity of life, what two main tasks do they carry out?
As diversity is studied, scientists name organisms and group them in a logical manner.
2. On what two languages are scientific names based?
The languages are Latin, or Greek.
3. According to the system of binomial nomenclature, how should the scientific name of a species be written?
First letter in Genus name upper case
First letter of species name lower case
Underline name or write in italics

11. 4. Which part of the name Puma concolor identifies the genus?
Puma identifies the genus to which a mountain lion belongs.
5. List in order from smallest to largest the seven categories in Linnaeus's system of classification.
Species, Genus, Family, Order, Class, Phylum, Kingdom - called taxa (singular – taxon)

12. Scientific naming review
The science of giving organisms a two-part scientific name is called
What two languages are used in scientific naming?
What is correct way of writing the scientific name “campylorhynchus brunneicalipis”?
Binomial nomenclature
Latin and Greek

13. A group of closely related species are a _____
genus
A group of closely related species are a _____
To what genus do Crotalus atrox, and Crotalus willardi belong?
Fill in the missing taxa: Domain, Kingdom,
_______, Class, _______, _______, Genus, Species.
Phylum
Order
Family

14. Why can common names be so confusing to scientists?
What species are more closely related?
Vulpes rufus
Lynx rufus
Vulpes velox
What descriptive information does the scientific name Carnegiea gigantea provide?
Common names are different in different countries – A single
species may have more than one common name.