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Taxonomy is the study of scientific classification, in particular the classification of living organisms according to their natural relationships. Taxonomy's first father was the philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC), sometimes called the "father of science." It was Aristotle who first introduced the two key concepts of taxonomy as we practice it today: classification of oranisms by type and binomial definition.

Despite existing for hundreds of years, the science of classification is far from dead. Classification of many species, old and new, continues to be hotly disputed as scientists find new information or interpret facts in new ways. Arguments are fierce and species do change names, but only after a wealth of information has been gathered to support such a big step. One of the new reasons why species are being re-evaluated is because of DNA analysis.

7:41 Explores classification in biology as well as taxonomy hierarchy: domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species with The Amoeba Sisters! This video also discusses the importance of scientific names and why classification can have major changes due to DNA and cell structure evidence.

Early classification systems probably grouped organisms as to whether they were beneficial or harmful. Another ancient classification system recognized 5 animal groups - domestic animals, wild animals, creeping animals, flying animals, and sea animals.

An international team led by Professor Itai YanaAi of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology Department of Biology made the discovery after using an extraordinarily powerful technique known as CEL-Seq. CEL-Seq monitors individual cells for their gene activity (as detected via mRNA)-and they applied it across 10 different species, with CEL-Seq being applied to 70 embryos per species. In particular, they were interested in whether the animal classification of phylum-which separates animals into groups according to their body plans-is actually a useful tool for placing animals into groups, as well as what genetic attributes are the same and different between the different phyla.

Article objectives To identify the four new kingdoms that were added to the original Linnaean taxonomy. To describe the three domains of the three-domain system of classification. To explain why the three-domain system may need revision in the future.

In this tutorial you will be learning about the Linnaean system of classification used in the biological sciences to describe and categorize all living things.  The focus is on finding out how humans fit within this system.  In addition, you will discover part of the great diversity of life forms and come to understand why some animals are considered to be close to us in their evolutionary history.

Analogy of organizing music for taxonomy, then works through classification for humans.

Brief article discussing changes in taxonomy and classification

From single-celled organisms to giant redwoods, Life Science explores all of Earth's life forms. Use interactive, animated activities to identify the living and nonliving components of an ecosystem, design a Venn diagram to compare the migrations of monarch butterflies and red knot shorebirds, and take a virtual field trip to a solar farm. Resources in Life Science gives you a wide range of topics, including the cell cycle, genetic disorders, and bioethics.

More than 40 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and that number is expected to increase drastically in the coming years. But no real progress has been made in the fight against the disease since its classification more than 100 years ago. Scientist Samuel Cohen shares a new breakthrough in Alzheimer's research from his lab as well as a message of hope. "Alzheimer's is a disease," Cohen says, "and we can cure it."

The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) and the International Union for Cancer Control (UICC) maintain the TNM classification system as a tool for doctors to stage different types of cancer based on certain standards. It's reviewed every 6 to 8 years to include advances in our understanding of cancer.

A phylogenetic tree, also known as a phylogeny, is a diagram that depicts the lines of evolutionary descent of different species, organisms, or genes from a common ancestor. Phylogenies are useful for organizing knowledge of biological diversity, for structuring classifications, and for providing insight into events that occurred during evolution. Furthermore, because these trees show descent from a common ancestor, and because much of the strongest evidence for evolution comes in the form of common ancestry, one must understand phylogenies in order to fully appreciate the overwhelming evidence supporting the theory of evolution.

Taxonomy, the practice of classifying biodiversity, has a venerable history. Although early natural historians did not recognize that the similarities and differences among organisms were consequences of evolutionary mechanisms, they still sought a means to organize biological diversity.

Scientists have discovered a previously unrecognized genus of extinct horses that roamed North America during the last ice age. The new findings are based on an analysis of ancient DNA from fossils of the enigmatic 'New World stilt-legged horse'

BLOSSOMS video lessons are enriching students' learning experiences in high school classrooms from Brooklyn to Beirut to Bangalore. Our Video Library contains over 50 math and science lessons, all freely available to teachers as streaming video and Internet downloads and as DVDs and videotapes.

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Readings of milestone biological discoveries and the scientist behind them

Deep-sea mystery solved: astonishing larval transformation and extreme sexual dimorphism unite three fish families by Johnson, et al. (2009)* published in Biology Letters, Royal Society. The deep sea fishes at the heart of the investigation and this activity were historically classified into three families or clades based on the obvious morphological differences between the members of each group.