What is taxonomy?
Taxonomy is the classification of living things. It is how we separate all living organisms into categories based on their relation to each other. There are seven major levels of classification.
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The broadest level of organization is Kingdoms. There are six major kingdoms into which every living thing on Earth fits. Below that are 6 other levels of organization, each more specific than the last. However, the more specific you get, the less organisms can fit in that category.
For instance, the family Canidae, is the 5th level of organization. That means it is fairly specific. This family is made up of all the canines in the world, like dogs, wolves, dingos, coyotes, etc. If we go down another level, we reach genus. A genus in this family would be canis, which is just dogs and wolves. So more specific still. If we go down to the last level, species, we get so specific we are talking about just one specific kind of organism. For instance canis lupus is name for the gray wolf, one specific type of organism.
Notice how when I listed the name for one specific type of organism, I actually listed both its genus and its species name. This is because some organisms have similar species name but no one organism can have the same genus and same species name. This use of both levels to name a specific organism is known as binomial nomenclature which just means a system of classification in which two names are used. All the name used in taxonomy and in binomial nomenclature are latin. Another example would be panthera leo which is the proper latin name for an african lion. All organisms, plants, animals and otherwise have one name that we use for everyday speech (lion) and a latin name used in scientific terms and documents (panthera leo).
For instance, the family Canidae, is the 5th level of organization. That means it is fairly specific. This family is made up of all the canines in the world, like dogs, wolves, dingos, coyotes, etc. If we go down another level, we reach genus. A genus in this family would be canis, which is just dogs and wolves. So more specific still. If we go down to the last level, species, we get so specific we are talking about just one specific kind of organism. For instance canis lupus is name for the gray wolf, one specific type of organism.
Notice how when I listed the name for one specific type of organism, I actually listed both its genus and its species name. This is because some organisms have similar species name but no one organism can have the same genus and same species name. This use of both levels to name a specific organism is known as binomial nomenclature which just means a system of classification in which two names are used. All the name used in taxonomy and in binomial nomenclature are latin. Another example would be panthera leo which is the proper latin name for an african lion. All organisms, plants, animals and otherwise have one name that we use for everyday speech (lion) and a latin name used in scientific terms and documents (panthera leo).