This document discusses various taxonomy systems used for classification of organisms. It explains key taxonomy systems including two kingdom, three kingdom, four kingdom and five kingdom systems based on different classification criteria like cell structure, cell organelles etc. It also describes important contributors to taxonomy like Aristotle, Linnaeus, Haeckel, Copeland, Whittaker and Woese. Other classification systems discussed include artificial, natural, phylogenetic, polyphasic and numerical taxonomy systems along with their basis of classification.

1. Mr. Osman H. Ali
B.Sc. Microbiology, MPH, HDCH

2. Taxonomy is the science dealing with the description,
identification, naming, and classification of organisms.
Classification is the ‘grouping’ of organisms based on particular
characters and is not arranged in hierarchical order.

3. Conti…
 Taxonomy provides basic understanding about the components
of biodiversity which is necessary for effective decision-making
about conservation and sustainable use.

4. Taxonomy's first father was the philosopher
Aristotle(384-322 BC), sometimes called the
“father of science."
He first introduced the two key concepts of :
classification of organisms by type and binomial
definition.
Sir Aristotle

5. Conti….
Aristotle was the first to attempt to classify all the kinds of by grouping the
types of creatures according to their similarities: animals with blood and
animals without blood. He further divided the animals with blood into live-
bearing and egg- bearing.
Aristotle's view of life was hierarchical. He assumed that creatures could be
grouped in order from lowest to highest, with the human species being the
highest.

6. *A Swedish naturalist named Carolus Linnaeus is
considered the 'Father of Taxonomy‘ since 1700s
*His two most important contributions to taxonomy
were:
•Ahierarchical classification system
•The system of binomial nomenclature
*He proposed that there were three
broad groups, called kingdoms, into
which the whole of nature could fit.
These kingdoms were animals,
plants, and minerals.
*Binomial nomenclature meant naming species
in 2 words : genus , followed by species.

7. •The two kingdom classification system was given by Carlous Linaaeus
in 1758.
• He then divided each kingdom into classes and later grouped the
classes into phyla for animals and divisions for plants.

8. *The development of optic and electronic microscopy showed important
differences in cells, mainly according to the presence or absence of
distinct nucleus, leading Édouard Chatton to distinguish organisms in
prokaryotes (without a distinct nucleus) and eukaryotes (with a distinct
nucleus) in a paper from 1925.
*Based on it, Copeland proposed a four-kingdom system, moving
prokaryotic organisms, bacteria and “blue-green algae”, into the
kingdom Monera.

9. *The position of fungi was not well established, oscillating between
kingdoms Protista and Plantae. So, in 1969, Robert Whittaker proposed
a fifth kingdom to include them, the called Kingdom Fungi.

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11. *The three-domain system is a biological classification introduced by Carl
Woese in 1977 that divides cellular life forms into archaea, bacteria, and
eukaryote domains.
*In particular, it emphasizes the separation of prokaryotes into two groups,
originally called Eubacteria (now Bacteria) and Archaebacteria (now
Archaea).
*Woese argued that, on the basis of differences in 16S rRNA genes, these
two groups and the eukaryotes each arose separately from an ancestor
with poorly developed genetic machinery, often called a progenote.

13. •Based on external or expressed characters.
•Consider only few characters.
•Not based on genetic characters or expression of genes.
•Phylogenetic / evolutionary related information is not obtained.

14. It is a system of classification based on natural similarities of vegetative &
floral characters.
Example: George Bentham & Joseph Dalton Hooker classified
classified plants into:
• Cryptogams (non flowering plants)
• Phanerogams (seed bearing plants)

15. It is a system of classification based on evolutionary & genetic relationship of
organisms in addition to natural characters.
Example:Adolf Engler & Karl Prantle Prantle classified bacteria &
all plants under 14 divisions. The 14 divisions.
The 14th divisions divisions is Embryophyta Embryophyta
siphanogama that includes gymnosperms & angiosperms.

16. Polyphasic Taxonomy is used to determine the genus and species of a
newly discovered procaryote.
This polyphasic taxonomy takes into account all available phenotypic and
genotypic data and integrates them in a consensus type of classification,
framed in a general phylogeny derived from 16S rRNA sequence analysis.
There are no particular set of rules guiding this taxonomy.
It mainly focus on
(i) enormous amounts of data,
(ii) large numbers of strains, and
(iii)data fusion (data aggregation)

17.  Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological
systematics which deals with the grouping by numerical
methods of taxonomic units based on their character states.
 It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like
cluster analysis rather than using subjective evaluation of their
properties
 The concept was first developed by Robert R. Sokal & Peter H.
A. Sneath in 1963

18.  Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics
which deals with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units
based on their character states.
 It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster analysis
rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Bacteria Bacteria

19.  Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics
which deals with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units
based on their character states.
 It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster analysis
rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Attribute
Bacteria
Bacteria

20.  Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics which
deals with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units based on
their character states.
 It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster analysis
rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Attribute Attribute
Bacteria Bacteria

21. Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics which
deals with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units based on their
character states.
It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster
analysis rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Attribute Attribute
Bacteria Bacteria
100a/(a + b + c)
For study of distribution and
ecology

22. Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics which
deals with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units based on their
character states.
It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster
analysis rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Attribute
Bacteria
Bacteria

23. Numerical taxonomy is a classification system in biological systematics which deals
with the grouping by numerical methods of taxonomic units based on their character
states.
It aims to create a taxonomy using numeric algorithms like cluster analysis
rather than using subjective evaluation of their properties
Attribute
100( a + d)]/( a + b + c + d)
Bacteria
Bacteria

24. System Given by Basis
2 Kingdom Linnaeus Cell wall
3 Kingdom Ernst Haeckel Cellularity level
4 kingdom Copeland Compartmentalization
of cell organelles
5 Kingdom R.H. Whittaker Cell type, wall, mode of
nutrition, motility
3 Kingdom Carl Woese 16S RNA gene

25. System Example Basis
Artificial Linnaeus Visible/ expressed
characters
Natural Bentham and Hooker Natural similarities
Phylogenetic Engler & Prantle Evolutionary
relationships
Polyphasic Carl Woese Phylogenitics &
phenotypic
Numerical Sokal and Sneath Expression of
characters in terms of
numeric value

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