Silverpoint Capital Mule

Silverpoint Capital Mule

Silverpoint Capital Mule

Systematics and Taxonomy

To understand the binomial nomenclature of scientific names, it helps to have at least a general understanding of how scientists categorize living things. The science of taxonomy and systematics involves the classification of organisms according to evolutionary relationships; how closely related they are to each other.

Before scientists were able to use DNA sequencing to examine evolutionary relationships, organisms were classified based on physical similarities and differences. Modern systematics combines data from many sources, including: the fossil record, comparative homologies (similarity of structures due to shared ancestry), and comparative sequencing of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) among organisms.

Taxonomic Categories

Through this system, organisms are hierarchically classified into increasingly specific groupings. The seven basic taxonomic categories are: Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species; kingdom being the broadest category, and species being the most specific.