What's in a Name?

Taxonomy (tax-on-o-me):  the science of identifying, classifying, and naming living things based on their similarities and differences.

Scientists place animals, plants, and other living things into groups. All living things, even if they are extinct like dinosaurs, are classified based on a set of rules. The Greek scientist Aristotle (384–322 BCE) created the first classification system. Today, we use a system introduced in the mid-1700s by the “Father of Taxonomy,” Carolus Linnaeus. He named plants and animals using the Latin language. Scientists continue to use Latin names to identify life forms. This allows them to share information worldwide regardless of language.

Living things are organized in eight categories: Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species. As each category narrows, organisms are more similar. Scientists refer to living things by their scientific name, the Latin genus and species, but things also have common names. For example, the giant sea creature named Carcharodon carchariasa is also called a great white shark.

Explore these pages to learn about the different classifications of sea life that Captain Blake Banks collected.