History of Classification
![Picture](/uploads/2/5/2/0/25209023/4731955.png)
Closely-related species could be collected within a larger
grouping, a genus; related genera are grouped into a
family, families into an order, orders into a
class, classes into a phylum, and phyla into a
Kingdom, the biggest and most general group. In Linnaeus time, there were just the
Animal Kingdom and the Plant Kingdom, but later discoveries convinced
biologists (then called naturalists) that some distinct types of organisms,
such as Fungi and some tiny single-celled organisms, should be
given their own separate Kingdoms.
grouping, a genus; related genera are grouped into a
family, families into an order, orders into a
class, classes into a phylum, and phyla into a
Kingdom, the biggest and most general group. In Linnaeus time, there were just the
Animal Kingdom and the Plant Kingdom, but later discoveries convinced
biologists (then called naturalists) that some distinct types of organisms,
such as Fungi and some tiny single-celled organisms, should be
given their own separate Kingdoms.
The original two
Kingdoms were Plantae and Animalia, which remained
the only Kingdoms until the middle of the 20th Century. During the last 40-50 years, those groups have been splintered a bit - Fungi was split off from the plants, Protista removed the single-celled eukaryotes (and the problems of their often-combined characteristics) and Monera was made for the prokaryotes. Those five Kingdoms were considered "the" Kingdoms in most basic biology books, even though the splintering has continued. The latest basic books now recognize a sixth group, the Archaea, once thought to be odd monera / bacteria but now considered a fundamentally different group. |
They continue to be updated because analysis of DNA is showing some organisms
aren't classified where they should be!
aren't classified where they should be!
![Picture](/uploads/2/5/2/0/25209023/6139673.jpg)
The modern
definition of classification groups depends upon each species in the group
evolving from a single ancestral type with the basic group characteristics -
plants all share an ancestor that had true plant characteristics, but the
ancestor they share with fungi is neither distinctly plant or fungus, so they
have been designated into different Kingdoms. Based upon this criteria, many
zoologists think that the Animal Kingdom should be splintered into at least two
Kingdoms. The Protista and the Monera are often "made up" of multiple Kingdoms
in advanced books on the subjects.
definition of classification groups depends upon each species in the group
evolving from a single ancestral type with the basic group characteristics -
plants all share an ancestor that had true plant characteristics, but the
ancestor they share with fungi is neither distinctly plant or fungus, so they
have been designated into different Kingdoms. Based upon this criteria, many
zoologists think that the Animal Kingdom should be splintered into at least two
Kingdoms. The Protista and the Monera are often "made up" of multiple Kingdoms
in advanced books on the subjects.
![Picture](/uploads/2/5/2/0/25209023/2756406.jpg)
Carl von Linne
a Swedish botanist (plant scientist) known as Carolus Linnaeus
began work in 1735 on a system that would organize descriptive classification from the smallest of
related groups up to the very largest. The system he developed, with
revisions, is the basic system still used today to systematically organize
types of living things with their relatives.
a Swedish botanist (plant scientist) known as Carolus Linnaeus
began work in 1735 on a system that would organize descriptive classification from the smallest of
related groups up to the very largest. The system he developed, with
revisions, is the basic system still used today to systematically organize
types of living things with their relatives.