The Living World — Part 2: The taxonomic hierarchy and binomial nomenclature: visual lesson, CBSE Class 11 Biology

Lesson

Hierarchy and naming

Part 2 — the ladder of categories from species to kingdom, and the two-word names that every biologist uses.

In this lesson you will

Arrange the seven taxonomic categories in order and describe each
Explain the species concept and the idea of a taxon
Work out the lowest category two organisms share
Write scientific names by the rules of ICBN and ICZN

Concept

Taxonomic categories

Each step of the ladder is a taxonomic category, or rank. A group of organisms placed in a rank is a taxon. The ranks are arranged in a hierarchy: each higher rank includes several lower ones.

Table of the seven taxonomic categories and what each contains
Category	Meaning
Species	Individuals with fundamental similarities, distinct from other such groups
Genus	Related species that share more characters with each other than with other genera
Family	Related genera
Order	Related families
Class	Related orders
Phylum (Division in plants)	Related classes
Kingdom	All the phyla or divisions of one great group, such as animals

Diagram

The hierarchy as a funnel

The funnel shows the classification of the human. Going up, a category includes more organisms that share fewer characters. Going down, it includes fewer organisms that share more characters.

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