Scientific classification is an interpretation of facts. It is based on the opinion and judgment a biologist forms after studying many living and preserved dead organisms. Most biologists use the same basic framework for classification. But not all biologists agree on how different groups of organisms fit into this scheme, and so classifications often differ in details. Latin and Greek words are used in scientific classification, because early scholars used these languages. Every known organism belongs to a particular species. Each species has a two-part scientific name. Most of these names come from Greek or Latin words. We call this system of names the binomial system of nomenclature, or binomial nomenclature, Latin for two-name naming. An 18th century Swede, Linnaeus, originated the binomial system. Organisms are known by different common names in different regions of the world. However, each organism has only one correct scientific name, and scientists any- where in the world can recognize the organism by its scientific name. For example, the same large member of the cat family may be known in various parts of North America and South America as a puma, cougar, mountain lion, panther, or lion. The cat’s scientific name is Felis concolor. Scientists can identify the animal by that name no matter what language they speak. International commissions of scientists establish the rules for adopting scientific names. Some scientific names are descriptive. The scientific name of the spotted skunk, for example, is Spilogale putorius, which means smelly, spotted weasel. But many scientific names have no descriptive meaning. Seven chief groups make up a system in scientific classification. The groups are: (1) kingdom, (2) phylum or division, (3) class, (4) order, (5) family, (6) genus, and (7) species. The kingdom is the largest group. The species is the smallest. Every known organism and plant has a particular place in each group. Kingdom is the largest unit of biological classification. Until the 1960’s, most biologists formally recognized only two major kingdoms-Animalia, the animal kingdom, and Plantae, the plant kingdom. But as more information about the microscopic structure and bio-chemistry of organisms became known, scientists realized that a two-kingdom classification system was not exact enough. Today, most biologists use a system that recognizes five kingdoms of organisms. These kingdoms are Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera. The kingdom Animalia is the largest kingdom. It has more than one million named species. These species include the organisms that most people easily recognize as animals, such as human beings, deer, fish, insects, and snails. The kingdom Plantae consists of more than 350,000 species. It includes those organisms that most people easily recognize as plants, such as magnolias, sunflowers, grasses, pine trees, ferns, and mosses. The kingdom Fungi has more than 100,000 species. These species include fungi, such as mushrooms and bread molds, as well as the lichens. The kingdom Protista has more than 100,000 species. This kingdom includes green, golden, brown, and red algae; ciliates; sporozo- ans; sarcodines; and flagellates. The kingdom Monera, also called Prokaryotae, consists of bacteria, including blue-green algae or cyanobacteria. There are more than 10,000 known species in this kingdom. Phylum is the second largest group. The kingdoms Protista, Fungi, and Plantae are classified into divisions. In the animal kingdom, the term phylum is used instead of division. Scientists disagree on which term should be used for the kingdom Monera. The animal kingdom may be divided into 20 or more phyla. All animals with backbones belong to the phylum Chordata. The plant kingdom has 10 divisions. All plants that have flowers belong to the division Anthophyta. Class members have more characteristics in common than do members of a division or phylum. For example, mammals, reptiles, and birds all belong to the phylum Chordata. But each belongs to a different class. Apes, bears, and mice are in the class Mammalia. Mammmals have hair on their bodies and feed milk to their young. Reptiles, including lizards, snakes, and turtles, make up the class Reptilia. Scales cover the bodies of all reptiles, and none of them feed milk to their young. Birds make up the class Aves. Feathers grow on their bodies, and they do not feed milk to their young. Order consists of groups that are more alike than those in a class. In the class Mamrnalia, all the animals produce milk for their young. Dogs, moles, raccoons, and shrews are all mammals. But dogs and raccoons eat flesh, and are grouped together in the order Carnivora, with other flesh-eating animals. Moles and shrews eat insects, and are classified in the order Insectivora, with other insect-eating animals. Family is made up of groups that are even more alike than those in the order. Wolves and cats are both in the order Carnivora. But wolves are in the family Canidae. All members of this family have long snouts and bushy tails. Cats belong to the family Felidae. Members of this family have short snouts and short-haired tails. Genus consists of very similar groups, but members of different groups usually cannot breed with one another. Both the coyote and the timber wolf are in the genus Canis. But coyotes and timber wolves generally do not breed with one another. Species is the basic unit of scientific classification. Members of a species have many common characteristics, but they differ from all other forms of life in one or more ways. Members of a species can breed with one another, and the young grow up to look very much like the parents. No two species in a genus have the same scientific name. The coyote is Canis latrans, and the gray wolf is Canis lupus. Sometimes groups within a species differ enough from other groups in the species that they are called subspecies or varieties. Butterflies are currently placed into the following families, according to the Department of Entomology at the Smithsonian Institution: Hesperiidae-Known as "Skippers" with about 3,000 species, these are small and fast-flying. Stout, broad-headed, antennae wide apart and all six legs developed. Lycaenidae-Over 5,000 species called Blues, Hairstreaks, and Coppers. Antennae ringed with black and white, anterior legs in males may be shorter. Nymphalidae-Over 5,000 species, known as "Brush-footed" with many subfamilies. Antennae usually strongly clubbed. The first pair of legs atrophied and brush-like. Papilionidae-About 600 species, known as "Swallowtails". Large with possible tailed hind-wings, simple tarsal claws. Pieridae-Over 1,000 species, known as "Yellows" and "Whites". Riodinidae-1,000 species sometimes placed in the family Lycanaenidae, known as "Metalmarks". Heliconiidae-70 Neotropical species, four of which are in the US. Protected by nauseous body fluids, rendering them unpalatable. Acraeidae-200 species, with narrow wings and long slender abdomens. Amathusiisae-Less than 100 species confined to the Indo-Australian region. Satyridae-3,000 species mostly brown from South America, but includes the Haeterinae which have transparent wings. Morphidae-80 species, Neotropical, including the "Hecuba" with a wing-span over 200mm. Danaidae-300 species, remarkably uniform in wing shape and pattern, with the largest "Idea" with a wing-span of 180mm. Brassolidae-80 species, with the "Caligo" over 200mm in wing-span. Ithomiidae-300 species confined to the Neotropical region. 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