classification

A detailed Summary of classification

The first great generalizer in classification was Aristotle, who virtually invented the science of logic, of which for 2,000 years classification was a part. Greeks had constant contact with the sea and marine life, and Aristotle seems to have studied it intensively during his stay on the island of Lesbos. In his writings, he described a large number of groups, and, although he ranked them from simple to complex, his order was not an evolutionary one. He was far ahead of his time, however, in separating invertebrate animals into different groups and was aware that whales, dolphins, and porpoises had mammalian characters and were not fish. Lacking the microscope, he could not, of course, deal with the minute forms of life.

The Aristotelian method dominated classification until the 19th century. His scheme was, in effect, that the classification of a living thing by its nature--i.e., what it really is, as against superficial resemblance--requires the examination of many specimens, the discarding of variable characters (since they must be accidental, not essential), and the establishment of constant characters. These can then be used to develop a definition that states the essence of the living thing--what makes it what it is and th

Two kingdoms of living things, Plantae and Animalia, have been recognized since the 4th century BC. In the 19th century AD a third kingdom, the Protista, was created to classify one-celled organisms. As techniques for examining the cell have improved, it has become clear that the major division in life is between prokaryotes, whose cells have no enclosed nucleus, and eukaryotes, whose cells have nuclei bound by membranes. The bacteria and cyanobacteria are prokaryotic cells, and they have been recognized as a fourth kingdom, Monera. Fungi form the fifth kingdom.

Classification, in biology, the identification, naming, and grouping of living things into a formal system. Groups must be defined by the selection of important characteristics that make the members of each group similar to one another and unlike members of other groups. Modern classification schemes also attempt to place groups into categories that reflect an understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying the similarities and differences.

Linnaeus attempted a natural classification but did not get far. His concept of a natural classification was Aristotelian; i.e., it was based on Aristotle's idea of the essential features of living things and on his logic. He was less accurate than Aristotle in his classification of animals, breaking them up into mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes, insects, and worms. The first four, as he defined them, are obvious groups and generally recognized; the last two incorporate about seven of Aristotle's groups.

Examples of the binomial system of naming organisms are Banksia serrata (saw banksia), Homo sapiens (human), Felis catus (domestic cat). The first word in the name is the genus name, and it always starts with a capital letter. The second word in the name is the species name, and both words are printed in italics to show that this is the scientific (binomial) name of the organism.

Biologists c

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Category: Science