In Biology, What is Scientific Classification?
Scientific classification is the system used by biologists to classify all life on Earth. It is also known as scientific classification in biology or Linnean classification, after Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), who first attempted this huge project. The pioneering work was Systema Naturae, first published in 1735, which ran through twelve editions throughout Linnaeus’ lifetime. The first version had a few thousand entries, grouped into taxa based on shared physical characteristics. Today, over two million species are recognized by science, though the total number of plant, animal, and unicellular species on Earth is estimated at between 10 and 100 million. The system of scientific classification used in biology is hierarchical, with eight levels of categorization. Moving from smallest to largest, they are: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. Even more divisions are often added in between these levels, as life itself has no special obligation to be categori
Scientific classification is the system used by biologists to classify all life on Earth. It is also known as scientific classification in biology or Linnean classification, after Carolus Linnaeus (1707-1778), who first attempted this huge project. The pioneering work was Systema Naturae, first published in 1735, which ran through twelve editions throughout Linnaeus’ lifetime. The first version had a few thousand entries, grouped into taxa based on shared physical characteristics. Today, over two million species are recognized by science, though the total number of plant, animal, and unicellular species on Earth is estimated at between 10 and 100 million. The system of scientific classification used in biology is hierarchical, with eight levels of categorization. Moving from smallest to largest, they are: species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain. Even more divisions are often added in between these levels, as life itself has no special obligation to be categori
