The Linnaean System of Classification
Storyboard Text
- I must develop a standard way of naming, grouping, and organizing species so that people can easily understand and identify them.
- I have collected and observed around 40,000 specimens of plants, animals, and shells during my lifetime.
- Aha! I know! I'll publish a small pamphlet entitled Systema Naturae (The System of Nature), where I will classify nature into a hierarchy. I will propose that there are three broad groups, called kingdoms, into which the whole of nature could fit. These kingdoms are animals, plants, and minerals. I will also divide each of these kingdoms into classes, which will be divided into orders. I will further divide these orders into genus and then species.
- I will also create the system of binomial nomenclature, which is a method of naming species by giving two-part names. The first name is the generic name, which starts with an initial capital letter. The second name is the specific name, which begins with a small initial letter. Both names should be underlined or written in italic form. This way, whenever someone wants to name a living organism, they could just state their genus and species, and everyone will understand.
- I will publish more editions of Systema Naturae with more named species so that I can share my learning.
- Some Time Later...
- Whoa! I named around 4,400 animal and 7,700 plant species using my binomial nomenclature system.
- Who knows? Maybe I'll be called the Father of Taxonomy for my contributions to taxonomy, and generations of scientists will follow my organizational system.
Over 30 Million Storyboards Created