DOMAIN
The domain is the highest taxonomic rank in
the hierarchical biological classification system,
above the kingdom level. Linnaeus did invent some
Of the taxanomic rank, but he did not invent the domain
rank,which is relatively new.
The term domain was not used until 1990, over 250 years
after Linnaeus develop his classification system in 1735.
The 3 domains of life are Bacteria,Archaea, Eukaryota.
Archaea are single cell organisms similar to bacteria, some
archaea live in extreme environment but others live in mild
ones. Eukaryota or every living thing on earth that is not a
bacterium or archaeon is more closely related to the domain
Archaea than to bacteria.
Taxonomic ranks are always capitalized, except for species.
this allows people to differenciate between bacteria (the organi-
am: could refer to all bacteria or just two specific bacteria) and
bacteria ( the domain, which include all bacteria)example:Eukarya.
KINGDOM
Before domains were introduced, kingdom
was the highest taxonomic rank. In the past,
the different kingdom were animalia, plantar,
Fungi,protista, Archaea and bacteria (Archaea
and bacteria were sometimes grouped into one
kingdom,Monera). However some of these group-
ings, such as protista, are not very accurate.
Protista include all Eukaryotic organisms that are
not animals, plants or fungi, but some of these org-
nisms are not very closely related to one another.
there is no set agreement on the kingdom classification,
and some researchers have abandoned it all together.
Currently, it continues to be revised: In 2015 researchers
suggested splitting protista into two new kingdom, protozoa
and chromista. Example:Animalia.
PHYLUM
PHYLUM is the next rank after kingdom, it is more specific
than kingdom but less specific than class. There are 35
Phyla in the kingdom animalia, including chodata, (all organism
with a dosal nerve cord) Porifera:(sponges) an arthropoda
(Athropods). Example: Chordata
CLASS
Class was the most general rank proposed by
Linnaeus, phyla were not introduced until the
19th century. There are 108 different classes in
the kingdom animalia, including Mamalia (mammals),
Aves(birds), and reptilia(reptiles),among many others.
The class of animalia that Linnaeus proposed are
similar to the ones used today, but Linnaeus classes
of plant were based on attributes like the arrangements
of flowers rather than relatedness. Today classes of
plants are different than the ones Linnaeus used and
classes are not frequently used in botany. Example: Mammalia
ORDER
Orders is more specific than class. Some of Linnaeus
Orders are still used today such as lepidoptera (the order
of butterfly and mots). there are between 19 - 26 order of
Mamalia, depending on how organisms are classified-
sources differ.
Some orders of Mamalia are primates, cetacean (whales,
Dolphins and Porpoises), canivora(large canivores/omnivores
and chiroptera(bats). Example : Carnivora
FAMILY
Family is in turn more specific. Some family in the order
canivora, for example are Canidae ( dogs, wolfs, foxes).
Felidae (cats), Mephitidae (skunks), Ursidae (bears). There
are 12 total families in the order carnivora. Example: Canidae
GENUS
Genus ( plural: genera) is even more specific than family .
It is th first part of an organism's scientific name using bi
nomial nomenclature; the s second part is the species name.
An organism's scientific name is always itacilized, and the
genus name is capitalized while the species name is not.
Genus and species are the only taxonomic rank that are
Italicized. The scientific name for humans is Homo sapiens.
Homo is the genus name, while sapiens is the species name.
All other species in the genus Homo are extinct. Some are an-
cestral to humans, such as Homo erectus. Others lived at the same
time, were closely related , and interbred with Homo sapiens, such
as Homo neanderthalensis, the neanderthals. Example: canis
SPECIES
species is the most specific major taxanomic rank; species
Are sometimes divided into subspecies, but not all species
have multiple form that are different enough to be call sub-
Species. There are an estimated 8.7 million different
species of organisms on earth, but the vast majority are yet to be
discovered and categorized. While each genus name is unique, the
Same species name can be used for different organism. For example,
Ursus Americanus is the American black bear , while Bufo Americanus
Is the American toad. The species name is always italicized, but never
capitalized. it is the only taxanomic rank that is not capitalized. In scientific
articles where the species name is used many times, it is abbreviated after
the first full use by using just the first letter of the genus name along with
the full species name. Homo sapiens is abbreviated to H.sapiens . Example:
Canis lupus..
