Classification and Keys
Classification and Keys
Classification
Scientists also arrange organisms into groups and this is called classification.
Classification
• There are millions of types of organisms on the planet.
• Scientists arrange them into groups based on how similar they are.
• The largest groups are called kingdoms.
• All organisms belong to one of the five kingdoms.
1. animal------ further subdivided into vertebrates (those with backbones) and many
groups of invertebrates (animals without a backbone)
2. Plant---------further divided into flowering plants (plants that have flowers ) and
many groups of non- flowering plants.
3. Fungus -------these include moulds, mushrooms and yeast.
4. Protist --------these are a wide variety of simple organisms ,and many have only one
cell.
5. Monera ------- these are single – celled organisms with no nucleus and include
bacteria.
Vertebrate fish amphibia reptile birds mammals
class
Human
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Inseta
Order Hymenoptera
Family Apidae
Genus Apis
Species mellifera
Honeybee
Kingdom Plantae
Phylum Angiospermophyta
Class Monocotyledoneae
Order Commelinales
Family Poaceae
Genus Zea
Species mays
Corn
Kingdom Fungi
Phylum Basidiomycota
Class Agaricomycetes
Order Agaricales
Family Agaricaceae
Genus Agaricus
Species campestris
Field mushroom
Species
• The smallest group in the classification of organisms is species.
• A species is a group of organisms that are so alike that they can mate together and
produce fertile young (offspring that can also reproduce)
• Humans , horses and dandelions are example of different species.
• Members of one species cannot naturally mate with members of another , for
example cats cannot mate with dogs.
Animal kingdom
• The animal kingdom contains organisms that are very complex.
• They are made of lots of cells (they are multicellular)
• The animal kingdom can be subdivided into smaller groups called phyla.
• We belong to a phylum called chordata.
• Nearly all the animals within this phylum are vertebrates.
• This means that they have backbones.
• The rest of the phyla in the animal kingdom are known as invertebrates because
they do not have a backbone