F.Y .BSc.

- ZOOLOGY
1.1 Systematic- Linnean hierarchy

1.2 Binomial nomenclature

1.3 Five kingdom classification

 Introduction
Taxonomy is the branch of biology that
names and groups organisms according to
their characteristics and evolutionary
history.

Organisms were first classified more than

2,000 years ago by the Greek philosopher
Aristotle.

Organism’s were grouped into land

dwellers, water dwellers, and air dwellers.
• Plants were placed into three categories based on the
differences in their stems.

• As new organism’s were discovered, his system became

inadequate.
– Categories were not specific enough.
– Common names did not describe a species accurately.
– Names were long and hard to remember.

• Carolus Linnaeus (mid-1700’)s was a Swedish biologist who

established a simple system for classifying and naming
organisms.
• He developed a Hierarchy (a ranking system) for classifying
organisms that is the Basis for Modern Taxonomy.
For this reason, he is considered to
be “father” of modern taxonomy.

Linnaeus used an organisms

morphology (form and structure), to
categorize it.

His system is still being used today.

His system allowed organisms to be
grouped with similar organisms.

He first divided all organisms into

two Kingdoms, Plantae (Plants) AND
Animalia (animals).
 Systematics
• Systematics is a system that organizes the
tremendous diversity of organisms into a
phylogenetic tree.

– A phylogenetic tree is a family tree that’s shows the

evolutionary relationships thought to exist between
organisms.

– It represents a hypothesis that is based on lines of

evidence such a the fossil record, morphology,
embryological patterns of development, and
chromosomes and macromolecules.
 The Fossil Record
• The fossil record often provides clues to evolutionary
relationships

• It can not be read like a story book because some

fossil records are incomplete

• Systematic taxonomists consider other evidence to

confirm information contained within the fossil record
with other lines of evidence, like…
 Morphology
• Taxonomists study an
organism’s morphology and
compare it to other living
organisms.
– Homologous features are
important but it is important to
separate features that are truly
homologous with those the
seem homologous but are
actually analogous.
– The more homologous features
two organisms share, the more
closely related they are thought
to be.
 Embryological Patterns
of Development
• Early pattern in
embryological
development provide
evidence of phylogenetic
relationships.
• They also provide means
of testing hypotheses
about relationships that
have developed from
other lines of evidence
Chromosomes and Macromolecules

• Taxonomists use comparisons of macromolecules

such as DNA, RNA, and proteins as a kind of
“molecular clock”.

• Scientists compare amino acid sequences for

homologous protein molecules of different species.

• The number of amino acid differences a clue to

how long ago two species diverged from a shared
evolutionary ancestor.
 Comparison of Karyotypes

Human (HSA), chimpanzee (PPA), gorilla (GGO), and

orangutan (PPY) chromosomes are illustrated in a comparative
karyotype of the great apes.
 Modern System a Nested Hierarchy-Seven Levels of
Organization

The Linnaean system of classification consists of a hierarchy of graded

taxonomic (named) ranks that are called as taxa.
Any given taxon (singular) may contain several lower taxa, which can be
usually distinguished based on certain common characteristics.
Such lower ranks may in turn be divided into a succession of progressively
smaller ranks.
The lower the rank of a group, the more similar are the organisms
grouped in it.
If any two given organisms can be grouped under the same lower rank or
taxon, it implies that the two organisms are structurally, functionally,
embryologically similar and that they have had a comparable
evolutionary history.
• If any two given organisms can be grouped under the same lower
rank or taxon, it implies that the two organisms are structurally,
functionally, embryologically similar and that they have had a
com.parable evolutionary history.

• Within the living world as a whole, the biggest taxonomic rank

is Kingdom.

• The next higher rank within a kingdom is the Phylum or Division.

• It is customary to use the term phylum for major groups in the

animal kingdom and the term division for major groups in the
plant kingdom.
• The phylum or division is a broad grouping of more or less
closely related organisms, sharing certain common characteristics.
• Each phylum or division has the next taxon called Class. The
members of each class exhibit certain distinguishing
characters that are unique only to them.

• In the same way, using comparable criteria of similarities and

relationships, each class can be divided into orders, each
order into families, each family into genera and each genus
into species.

• Species is normally the basic or fundamental unit of

classification. A species is therefore the narrowest taxonomic
category and kingdom is the broadest category in the
Linnaean hierarchy.
• A typical Linnaean hierarchy has seven taxa
represented as follows:

Remember: King Philip Came Over For Grandma’s Soup

Classification Hierarchy of Organisms
 Binomial Nomenclature
• Names were based on Latin or Ancient Greek words -
scientist everywhere understood these languages.

• The FIRST word of the Scientific Name (Species Name) is

the name of the genus to which the organism belongs.
– The Genus name refers to the relatively small group of
organisms to which a particular type of organism
belongs.

• The SECOND word of the name is the species. (Species

identifier)
– The Species name is usually a Latin description of some
important characteristic of the organism.
 Rules for Writing Scientific Names
• When we use the Latin name for an organism, we
ALWAYS capitalize the Genus (first part) but NOT the
species identifier (second part).
• We also print the name in Italics or Underline them. For
example:
– Acer rubrum (scientific name) - red maple tree (common
name) or Acer rubrum
• Acer is the Latin name for Maple (genus)
• rubrum is the Latin word for Red (species)
– OR the name can be abbreviated as: A. rubrum
• Humans are named: Homo sapiens
– Homo because of our large brain and upright posture.
– sapiens because of our intelligence and ability to speak.
 The Five Kingdom System of Classification
In order to suggest a better system of classification of living
organisms, R.H. Whittaker (1969) an American Taxonomist
divided all the organisms into 5 kingdoms based on their
phylogenetic relationships. This classification takes into account
the following important criteria.

 Complexity of Cell structure - prokaryote to Eukaryote

 Mode of nutrition - autotrophs and heterotroph
 Body organization -unicellular or multi-cellular
 Phylogenetic or evolutionary relationship

The Five kingdoms are Monera, Protista, Fungi,

 1. Kingdom Monera
The Kingdom of Prokaryotes
• This kingdom includes all prokaryotic organisms i.e.
mycoplasma, bacteria, actinomycetes(filamentous bacteria)
and cyanobacteria (blue green Algae).
They show the following characters.
• They are microscopic .
• They do not possess a true nucleus.
• They lack membrane bound organelles.
• Some bacteria are parasites and others live as symbionts.
• Their mode of nutrition is autotrophic
heterotrophic. Some bacteria are autotrophic and are
photosynthetic. i.e. they can synthesize their organic
food in the presence of sunlight
eg. Spirillum.
• Some bacteria are chemosynthetic i.e. they can
synthesize their organic food by deriving energy from
some chemical reactions. eg. Nitrosomonasand Nitrobacter.

• Many other bacteria

like Rhizobium, Azotobacter and Clostridium can fix
atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia. This phenomenon is
called Biological Nitrogen Fixation .

• Some monerans like Archaebacteria can live in extreme

environmental conditions like absence of oxygen (anaerobic),
high salt condition, high temperature like 800c or above and
highly acidic soils.
 2. Kingdom Protista

This kingdom includes eukaryotic unicellular mostly aquatic

cells.

They show the following characters

• They have a typical Eukaryotic cell organization.

• They often bear cilia or flagella for locomotion.
• Mostof them are photosynthetic autotrophs.
• They form the chief producers of food in oceans and in fresh
water.
• All unicellular plants are collectively called as
phytoplanktons and unicellular animals as zooplanktons.
Phytoplanktons are photosynthetically active and have cell
wall.
• Zooplanktons are mostly predatory. They lack cell wall
and show holozoic mode of nutrition as in Amoeba.

• Some protists are parasitic. Some are symbionts while others

are decomposers.

• Euglena, a protozoan has two modes of nutrition. In the

presence of sunlight it is autotrophic and in the absence
of sunlight it is heterotrophic. This mode of nutrition is
known as myxotrophic and hence they form a border line
between plants and animals and can be classified in both.
 3. Kingdom Fungi
• This kingdom includes moulds, mushrooms, toad stools,
puffballs and
Bracket fungi.
• They have eukaryotic cell organization.
They show the following characteristics.

• They are either unicellular or multi-cellular organisms.

• Their mode of nutrition is heterotrophic since they lack the
green pigment
chlorophyll. Some fungi like Puccinia are parasites while others
like Rhizopus are
saprotrophic and feed on dead organic matter.
• Their body is made up of numerous filamentous structures
called hyphae.
• Their cell wall is made up of chitin.
 4. Kingdom Plantae

• It includes all multi-cellular plants of land and water.

Major groups of Algae, Bryophytes, Pteridophytes,
Gymnosperms andAngiosperms belong to this kingdom.

• It shows the following characteristics.

• The cells have a rigid cell wall made up of cellulose.

• They show various modes of nutrition. Most of them are

autotrophs since they have chlorophyll. Some plants are
heterotrophs. For eg. Cuscuta is a
parasite. Nepenthes and Drosera are insectivorous plants.
 5. Kingdom Animalia

• This kingdom includes all multi-cellular eukaryotic

organisms.
• They are also referred to as metazoans.
• They show the following characteristic features.

• All animals show heterotrophic mode of nutrition. They

form the consumers of an ecosystem.

• They have contractibility of the muscle cells.

• They can transmit impulses due to the presence of nerve

cells.

• Some groups of animals are parasites eg. tapeworms and

Merits of the Five Kingdom Classification
• It shows the phylogenetic relationships among the
organisms.
• It is based on the complexity of the cell structure from
prokaryotic to eukaryotic cell organization.
• It is based on the complexity of body organization from
unicellular to multi-cellular.
• It is based on the modes of nutrition: autotrophic or
heterotrophic mode of nutrition.

Demerits of Five Kingdom Classification

Chlamydomonas and Chlorella are included under the kingdom
Plantae. They should have been included under kingdom Protista since
they are unicellular.
•