Classification, What is it?

Classification, what is it?

Classification is where taxonomists classify animals and put them into groups depending on what characteristics they might have. There are many ways to tell what group an animal may be in. For example, a monkey is warm blooded but a cod is cold blooded so they cannot be in the same group as they have different blood and many other things that show they’re different. The first classification system was created by Carl Linnaeus and it is surprising Still used to this day. It may not be exactly accurate to the one he made but it’s close enough. It’s called the Linnaeus system. Classification can get very complicated sometimes as animals like echidnas and platypuses exist which are warm blooded but can swim in water and lay eggs. They can also feed their young with their milk. They are surprisingly classified as monotremes, a mammal group that lay eggs but are mammals.

How are animals classified?

Animals can be classified in all different ways such as: having wings, having fur, cold blooded, warm blooded. Scientists believe there are over 10,000,000 species on earth! There are 12 groups which also get divided into smaller groups. The 12 starter groups are: mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, amphibians, insects, molluscs, crustaceans, arachnids, annelids, echinoderms and myriapods. They classify animals into groups so it is easier to learn more about that animal if they ever want to test on it. Sometimes animals are vertebrates and invertebrates which means it has no backbone. There are still many animals on earth that have not been classified or even known that it exists so it proves that being a taxonomist is a very hard job. Would you like to classify animals?

Carnivores, omnivores and herbivores 

There are 3 other classification types, carnivores, omnivores and herbivores. Carnivores eat a strictly meat diet and normally are the hunter not the prey. Omnivores eat both meat and plants so they normally are not the hunter or prey, they really just live their life. Herbivores are normally the prey and get hunted a lot. They eat only plants and sometimes meat is poisonous to their body. These classification types show whether some animals are dangerous or fine. It can also show if some are domestic or wild, which means they can adapt to be pets or not. This can be important so at a zoo people can know if it’s friendly or not.


Their lifestyles 

Every animal has a unique lifestyle for example monkeys have to live in the wild in a jungle or forest but a dog or cat can just adapt to somebody’s home. Some animals are kept at a farm or zoo to attract people and earn money. Luckily they are kept in an enclosure that is suitable for their size, climate and lifestyle. I still believe it is wrong for animals to be kept in a zoo or farm but as long as the animals are happy and fine there is no problem with a zoo or farm. What do you think?

An informative blog on classification, Riley. Well presented and a good use of a question to engage the reader. CR

Written By 16riley

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