EVERYDAY BIOLOGY. PHASE vi....
Living things constitute an heterogeneous or diverse assemblage of numerous living creatures with widely varied characteristics. In this state of disorderness, investigation about living are difficult. Therefore, the need arises that they have to be sorted out into groups each containing organisms with similar features and distinct from member of every other group. Classification would then indicate the relationship of an organisms to the other, it will also reveal the evolutionary trend amongEquus, from the most simple and primitive organisms to the most complex and advance investigation about them become easy. Classification and naming of organisms are dynamic tasks which keep on changing as new facts are learnt about them and as new ones are discovered. Over several years, living organisms have been divided into two board groups called the plant kingdom and animal kingdom. However, new discoveries and reasoning have necessitated the creation of two additional kingdom. Monera and Protista both of which comprises of organisms that are lower than plants and animals on the evolutionary scale.
The group kingdom is further subdivided into smaller group until the basic unit of biological classification, species, is reached. The organisms that make up the species have very many features in common and they are able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
Species with many common features are placed in the same genus (pl. General). Genera with common feature are place in the same class and a group of related classes and a group of related classes are placed in the same phylum (animals) or division (plants) and finally phyla or division constitute the kingdom which is the largest unit of biological classification.
Individual organisms or species are named by by binomial system which was developed by Linnaeus. Every species is given two names the genus and species. For example: Equus asinus (donkey), Equus burchelli (zebra) and Equus cobalhus (horse) where Equus is the generic name for these three different animal species.
