CH 03 - Classifying, Naming, and Identifying

Ch 3 - Classifying, Naming and Identifying
About one and a half million kinds of organisms have been described. With so many we must have some way of classifying, naming and identifying them. Table 1 This table shows how humans are classified. As we go downwards from top to bottom the number of organisms in each group decreases and the similarities between them increases. Ape-man and primitive man are, of course, extinct and are known only from their fossil remains. Name of group Kingdom ANIMAL Phylum CHORDATA Class MAMMALIA Order PRIMATE Family HOMINIDAE Genus HOMO Species SAPIENS The animals that belong to each group All animals Animals with a backbone Backboned animals, with hair Mammals with grasping hands and feet Ape-man and primitive man as well as modern man Primitive man and modern man only Modern man only
How do we classify living things?

Scientists classify living things by arranging them into groups. Each group is then split into smaller groups, and these groups
into even smaller groups and so on. The members of each group have certain features in common which distinguish them from other groups. Living things are first split into kingdoms, such as the animal and plant kingdoms. These kingdoms are then split up into a large number of smaller groups called phyla (singular: phylum). All the members of a phylum have certain things in common. Each phylum is broken down into classes, classes into orders, orders into families, families into genera (singular: genus), and genera into species. Each of these groups contains progressively fewer and fewer kinds of organisms. Thus a phylum contains a wide variety of organisms: they all have certain basic features in common, but there are a lot of differences between them. However, the organisms belonging to a genus are all very similar, and those belonging to the same species are identical in general appearance. This is illustrated in Table 1, which shows how humans are classified.
What's in a name?
When naming animals and plants we often give them what are called common names. These are the names we use in everyday language: cat, dog, rose and so on. The trouble is that common names can be misleading. One reason is that they are often based on superficial resemblances between living things. For example, there is an animal living in the sea called the sea mouse. But it isn't a mouse at all. It's a relative of the earthworm. It got its name simply because it looks hairy and reminded someone of a mouse! Another problem is that an organism may have more than one common name, and sometimes the same name is given to
several different organisms. Take the plant in Figure 1 for example. Most people would probably call this the marsh marigold. However, it is also known as king cup, golden cup, brave celandine, horse blob, may blob, Mary bud, soldier's button, and publicans and sinners! To make matters worse, in parts of America it is called cowslip, a name which in Britain is given to a quite different plant.
A standard system for naming organisms

Biologists use a standard system in which every organism is given two names. The first is the name of the genus to which the organism belongs. It shares this name with a number of other closely related organisms. The organism's second name is the name of the species to which it belongs. This name is possessed by only one kind of organism: it does not share it with any other organisms in the genus. It is customary to start the genus name with a capital letter, and the species name with a small letter, and to print both names in italics. Now for an example. The domestic cat's full name is Felis catus: Felis is the genus name, and catus is its species name. This name applies to the family pet which spends so much of its time curled up on the hearth-rug. However, the genus Felis also includes several animals which would be less welcome in our houses, the lion and tiger for example. The lion's proper name is Felis Leo, and the tiger's is Felis tigris.
This system of naming organisms was developed by the 18thcentury naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-78). Because it involves giving organisms two names, it is known as the binomial system. The names just described are called proper names or scientific names. They are written in Latin. The trouble is that they are often long and difficult to remember. For example, there is a certain kind of worm which is called Haploscoloplos bustorus! To make things easier we often call animals and plants by their simpler common names, provided we are sure that there won't be any confusion. Common names usually start with a small letter and are printed in ordinary type, not italics.
How do we identify living things?

Suppose you have been out for a walk and you come back with the plants shown in Figure 2. How can you find out their names? One way might be to compare each one with pictures in a book. This is all right if it's a short book, but if it's a long one it can be a tedious business and it is difficult to know where to start. It is much better to use a key. Keys are widely used by biologists to identify organisms quickly and accurately. Two kinds of key are shown beneath the plants in Figure 2. Use them to identify the plants. Because of its shape the top one is called a spider key. The trouble with spider keys is that they take up a lot of room. So we usually use a numbered key like the one at the foot of Figure 2. Use keys to identify other organisms, and try making a key of your own. To do this you split the organisms into successive pairs of groups. This gives you a spider key like the one in Figure 2. You then make a numbered key from the spider key (Investigation).
Investigation - Making a key for identifying organisms 1. Your teacher will give you a collection of organisms, or pictures of organisms, together with their names. 2. Make a key, similar to the one in Figure 2, which would enable a person to find out the name of each organism. To do this, write out a spider key first, and then make a numbered key from the spider key. 3. Ask a friend to identify the organisms using your key. 4. If your friend runs into any difficulties improve the wording of the key to make it clearer. Why is a numbered key better than a spider key?
Assignments 1. Find out the proper names of five organisms (animals or plants) other than the ones mentioned in this Topic. 2. The following questions are about the key in Figure 2. a) Why were bluebells distinguished from daffodils by their flowers rather than by their leaves? b) If you were to distinguish between the lesser celandine and primrose by their flowers rather than by their leaves, what would you say about them? 3. A scientist visits an uninhabited island and discovers the
insects shown in the illustration below. Make up a name for each insect, and devise a key which would enable another visitor to the island to identify them.

CH 03 - Classifying, Naming, and Identifying

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Ch 3 - Classifying, Naming and Identifying

How do we classify living things?

A standard system for naming organisms

How do we identify living things?

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