Taxonomy and Classification
Taxonomy
= the science of naming and describing species
“Wisdom begins with calling things by their right names”
-Chinese Proverb
museums contain ~ 2 Billion specimens worldwide
about 1.5 M different species of life have been
described
each year ~ 13,000 new species are described
most scientists estimate that there are at least
50 to 100 Million actual species sharing our planet
today
most will probably remain unknown forever:
the most diverse areas of world are the most remote
most of the large stuff has been found and described
not enough researchers or money to devote to this work
Common vs Scientific Name
many larger organisms have “common names”
but sometimes >1 common name for same
organism
sometimes same common name used for 2 or
more distinctly different organisms
eg. daisy eg. moss
eg. mouse eg. fern
eg. bug
Taxonomy and Classification, Ziser Lecture Notes, 2004 1
, without a specific (unique) name it’s impossible to
communicate about specific organisms
What Characteristics are used
how do we begin to categorize, classify and name all
these organisms
there are many ways to classify:
form
color
size
chemical structure
genetic makeup
earliest attempts used general appearance
ie anatomy and physiological similarities
plants vs animals
only largest animals were categorized
everything else was “vermes”
but algae, protozoa
today, much more focus on molecular similarities
proteins, DNA, genes
History of Classification
Aristotle
was the first to try to name and classify things based on
structural similarities
described ~520 species of animals; esp around Greece
Taxonomy and Classification, Ziser Lecture Notes, 2004 2
Taxonomy
= the science of naming and describing species
“Wisdom begins with calling things by their right names”
-Chinese Proverb
museums contain ~ 2 Billion specimens worldwide
about 1.5 M different species of life have been
described
each year ~ 13,000 new species are described
most scientists estimate that there are at least
50 to 100 Million actual species sharing our planet
today
most will probably remain unknown forever:
the most diverse areas of world are the most remote
most of the large stuff has been found and described
not enough researchers or money to devote to this work
Common vs Scientific Name
many larger organisms have “common names”
but sometimes >1 common name for same
organism
sometimes same common name used for 2 or
more distinctly different organisms
eg. daisy eg. moss
eg. mouse eg. fern
eg. bug
Taxonomy and Classification, Ziser Lecture Notes, 2004 1
, without a specific (unique) name it’s impossible to
communicate about specific organisms
What Characteristics are used
how do we begin to categorize, classify and name all
these organisms
there are many ways to classify:
form
color
size
chemical structure
genetic makeup
earliest attempts used general appearance
ie anatomy and physiological similarities
plants vs animals
only largest animals were categorized
everything else was “vermes”
but algae, protozoa
today, much more focus on molecular similarities
proteins, DNA, genes
History of Classification
Aristotle
was the first to try to name and classify things based on
structural similarities
described ~520 species of animals; esp around Greece
Taxonomy and Classification, Ziser Lecture Notes, 2004 2
