All living organisms can be given a specific name because of classification, that is unique only to that organism. Every living thing can be classified into the levels shown above, starting with life, everything alive falls into a domain, then a specific kingdom, a phylum, class, order, family, genus and finally species. Every level contains organisms with similar traits, but the higher you go on the chart, the wider the range of the similar traits. As an example in the domain level you have both a human and a palm tree, but ass the list goes down, the similarities needed to be named together become stricter and by the species level, all species have their own names. The lower you go the more similar it is. |
As an example of classification - The Brown Bear
Domain - Eukarya - The brown bear is in the eukarya domain because it has eukaryotic cells, are either unicellular, colonial or multicellular organism, have cell division by mitosis and can access energy and carbon. Kingdom - Animalia - The brown bear is in the animalia domain because it is a multi cellular organism, is able to respond to external stimuli and can move, capable of reproduction and is a heterotroph, which means it relies on external means to consume energy, for example, by eating wolves. Phylum - Chordata - The brown bear is in the Chordata phylum because they have backbones and a vertebra. Class - Mammalia - The brown bear is in the Mammalia class because they have four limbs, are capable of keeping their body temperature at a fixed level, they can feed milk to their young and they have fur on their bodies. Order - Carnivora - The brown bear is in the Carnivora order because is gets a large amount of its food by killing and then eating other organisms. They have sharp claws and teeth and their mouth is suited for chewing, they can open and close their mouths, can mark territory and usually produce 2 - 3 cubs. Family - Ursidae - The brown bear is in the Ursidae family because it is a bear, it has a large body with stocky legs and shaggy hair, unless mating or taking care of their young are solitary, setting up dens on their own. Are adept runners, swimmers and climbers and hibernate during the winter. Genus - Ursus - Thee brown bear is in the Ursus genus because they have a slightly different form of skull, differing them from the Ursidae Species - Arctos - The brown bear is in the Arctos species because that is what the species is called |