7.b. Why we need a classification system

Question 1

What are the four reasons for needing a classification system?

Answer 1

• We can infer evolutionary relationships
• It makes it easier to communicate
• It allows us to predict characteristics
• It’s more useful to count families than species

Question 2

It allows us to infer evolutionary relationships. What part of a classification system would tell us that two organisms are related?

Answer 2

If two organisms are in the same taxon we can infer an evolutionary relationship

Question 3

When would it be more useful to count families rather than species? (2)

Answer 3

When describing the health of an ecosystem or the rate of extinction