Good afternoon. You are most welcome to this lesson. Get a note book and a pen, go to a quite place, here we go.

·  Classification is the process of placing living organisms into groups according to their similarities in structure, physiological processes and behavior.

·  This involves collecting organisms, observing their structural characteristics and sorting them into groups known as taxa.

·  The branch of biology concerned with classification is called taxonomy. The word taxonomy is derived from the Greek words ‘taxi’- meaning arrangement and ‘nomia’-meaning distribution.

A level of classification is called taxon. Plural –taxa. A taxon is a unit of classification made of similar organisms. The largest taxon is the kingdom and the smallest taxon is the species. All organisms have been put in seven major taxa and these include:

1. Kingdom

2. Phylum (phyla)

3. Class

4. Order

5. Family

6. Genus (genera)

7. Species

·  The species is the smallest taxon which is made up of individuals that have almost the same characteristic features and can interbreed freely to produce viable off springs i.e. reproductively fertile off springs. For example; dogs can interbreed to produce viable offsprings and form species which contain the fewest organisms.

·  The genus (plural: genera) is made up of a group of species that share some features, for example; domesticated dogs, wolves and jackals form a genus called Canis.

·  The family is made up of a group of several similar and closely related genera. For example; genera canis and Lycaon (hunting dogs) form family Canidae.

·  The order is made up of a group of closely related families. For example; families Canidae and Felidae (including domesticated cats) form order canivora.

·  The class is a group of closely related orders, for example order canivora, rodentia and primate form class mammalia.

·  The phylum is a group of closely related classes, for example class mammalia, Aves, Reptilia, amphibia form phylum chordata.

·  The kingdom is the largest group made of closely related phyla. For example, phylum chordata, Arthropoda, Platyhelminthes form kingdom animalia.

 KING                               kingdom

PHILLIP                             phylum

 COUGHED                           class

 ON                                     order

 FRED and he                      family

 GOT                                        genus

 SICK                                        species