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Taxonomy Homework Help

Classification: Classification is defined as the process of grouping anything based on its similarities, in order to be grouped into convenient categories.
What is Taxonomy?

Taxonomy: The process of classification of organisms into various categories is defined as taxonomy.

Taxa: These categories in scientific terms are called taxa (singular – taxon). Taxa are smaller units of the taxonomy as a whole.

All organisms – plants and animals are divided into categories at various levels leading to a hierarchy.

Species: The species name is the lowest category of the hierarchy. Species name varies from each species to species as it is assigned to organisms of closely related species. Though closely related species may have a different species name, they will have a common generic name.

Genus: A genus is defined as a group of closely related species that have common characteristics and at the same time differ from other species. For example, potato, tomato, and brinjal belong to the same genus Solanum.

Family: The next higher category in the hierarchy is family. A family is a group of related genera with common vegetative and reproductive features. For example, lions, tigers, and panthers belong to the genus Panthera, whereas cats belong to the genus Felis. However, Panthera and Felis belong to the same family Felidae.

Order: In the taxonomic hierarchy, the order is the next category. In this category, families that have a few similar categories are assembled together. For example, in animals, families Felidae (cats) and Canidae (dogs) belong to the order Carnivora.

Class: Broadly related orders make up the next category, class. For example, class Mammalia includes in the orders such as Carnivora, primate (includes animals like a gorilla, and chimpanzees)

Phylum: Different classes such as fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals group to form the next higher category known as a phylum. Phylum covers all organisms from a broader perspective. For example, the above classes are grouped under the Chordata phylum.

Kingdom: All organisms belonging to different phyla are grouped together and classified into the two highest categories of the taxonomy hierarchy – Plantae and Animalia kingdom. This indicates that all organisms fall into one of these kingdoms and possess some or other similar characteristic features.

Taxonomy Homework Help

The taxonomic hierarchy system indicates that the more closely the species are related to each other, the more they fall into the lower category in the hierarchy system.