Classification System& How It Developed

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CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM AND HOW IT DEVELOPED. There are many organisms in the world and biologists have managed to be able to name many of the ones existing using binomial system which is still in use today. Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish biologist who came up with the binomial system of naming each particular species of organisms. The binomial system was given species a unique two-part Latin name. The first part of the name was the genus which is shared by all closely related species, e.g. all horses and zebras are in the genus called Equus. The second part of the name defines the particular species in the genus. Together these two words make up a unique species name that is often highly descriptive. To name an organism you have to be able to identify what it is. Keys are the traditional way of identifying an organism and the key in use today is the dichotomous key. The dichotomous key means that there are two alternative at each stage in the key which are used by field biologists to find names of unfamiliar organisms. Because there is such a large variety of living things, humans have tried to organise these organisms into groups based on their shared features and has resulted in a manageable number of categories and has been the principal aim of all classification systems. Carl Linnaeus created the first classification system by grouping all organisms according to their visible similarities and differences. All organisms are place in the taxonomic hierarchy in which all members share one or more common features. The hierarchy is divided into seven groups which are: Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family Genus Species The kingdom was initially then divided into groups namely plants and animals but scientists then realised that not all organisms fit into these two kingdoms. The separation of organisms

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