Classification Taxonomy

Organisms are classified today using the Linnaean system, and the following table shows the taxonomic classification of two marine organisms living along the Pacific Coast.

-Taxonomic classification is important to marine biologists because it provides a way to-

• prove that marine evolution occurs

• discover and name every marine organism on Earth

• designate Latin as the universal language of marine biology

• identify marine organisms and find evolutionary relationships between them

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

The gray squirrel, Eastern fox squirrel, and red squirrel are all different species of squirrels. Why is having a scientific name for each species of an organism important?

• To prevent existing named organisms from having their names changed as they become extinct

• To keep the classification system from being altered as new organisms are discovered

• To allow organisms to be placed in many classification levels at the same time

• To standardize the naming and organization of organisms to avoid confusion

Having a standard taxonomic system benefits the scientific community by allowing scientists from all over the world to do which of the following?

• Have a common system for the classification of locations containing fossils

• Use a similar system to classify the impact of removing species from ecosystems

• Have a common understanding in the classification of organisms

• Understand how other scientists classify predator–prey relationships

Dogs (Canis familiaris) are most closely related genetically to which of the following organisms?

• African hunting dog (Lycaon pictus)

• Gray wolf (Canis lupus)

• Grizzy bear (Ursus arctos)

• Domestic cat (Felis catus)

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NGSS.MS-LS4-2

What phylum do animals with backbones belong?

• Vertebrates

• Invertebrates

• Protostomes

• Deuterostomes

The most specific scientific name of an organism is based on its -

• phylum and genus

• kingdom and phylum

• kingdom and species

• genus and species

According to the dichotomous key above, which of the leaves shown above is from a pecan tree?

• I

• II

• III

• IV