Classifying Organisms
Genus and Species
it is a classification grouping that contains similar, closely related organisms
a species is a group of similar organisms that can mate with each other.
Organisms that are classified in the genus Felis share charactoristics
Using binomial nomenclature
Linnaes used Latin words in his naming system because Latin was the language that scientists used during the time.
it makes it easier for scientists to communicate about and organism
using the same names for an organism can be very confusing.
The major levels of classification
organisms are not grouped by where they live by where they live, but rather by there shared charactoristics.
the more classification levels that two organisms share, the more charactoristics they have in common
Darwin's theory
Darwin collected data for his theory on the Galapagos islands
Darwin thought that some membors of a single species in finch flew from South America to the islands
once on the island the finches species changed little by little.
classification today
Species with similar evolutionary histories are classified more closely together.
the theory of evolution has changed the way bioligists think about classification
different organisms are similar because they share a common ancector
Determining evolutionary history
scientists use information about the chemical makeup of the organism's cells
Taxonimic keys
Taxomonic keys are useful tools for determining the identity of organisms