. Biology and man. Biology; Human beings. What Is the Basis of Classification? Many Bases We could classify living things, as we classify stamps and ships, in many different ways. One of the oldest and commonest methods of sorting animals is according to the way they concern us. There are ]ood animals, ]ur animals, nuisances. Or we might classify animals according to the regions or the conditions in which they live—arctic animals and tropical animals; mountain animals and lowland animals; land animals, air animals and water animals. Each basis of sorting may be useful. But the first plan sugge
. Biology and man. Biology; Human beings. What Is the Basis of Classification? Many Bases We could classify living things, as we classify stamps and ships, in many different ways. One of the oldest and commonest methods of sorting animals is according to the way they concern us. There are ]ood animals, ]ur animals, nuisances. Or we might classify animals according to the regions or the conditions in which they live—arctic animals and tropical animals; mountain animals and lowland animals; land animals, air animals and water animals. Each basis of sorting may be useful. But the first plan suggested would bring together sheep, chickens and salmon; or sheep, foxes and buffaloes. It would bring together mosquitoes, rats, foxes and shipworms. The second plan also has its uses, but it brings together birds, bugs and bats, which all fly; or whales, fish and oysters, which live in water; or spiders, elephants and penguins. A good classification has a place for each "kind" and it avoids counting any particular "kind" more than once. A land-water classification would have to place the frog in one group as a tadpole and in the other group as an adult. If we had a useful-harmful classification, the farmer and the fur- rier could not agree about the fox. Choosing a Basis for Classification In classifying living things today, we consider not merely their appearance or their uses to us, but all that is known about them. Separating all organisms into plants and animals is very old and appeals to common sense. We recognize that in a general way animals are more active than plants, and more sensitive to changes in the This Swedish botanist and explorer de- veloped a system for classifying plants and animals which served to bring or- der out of great confusion. Linnaeus believed that every species was sep- arately created, but saw similarities among species which he placed in the same genus. He grouped genera into orders and orders into classes. He also devised t
Size: 1706px × 1465px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., book, bookcentury1900, booksubjectbiology, booksubjecthumanbeings
