Scientific studies still do not verify how many living beings exist for sure, the difference between them varies between feeding, physical characteristics, reproduction, among others, to define these differences there is the animal taxonomy which is science used to classify each animal species.
Animals are organized by hierarchy that scientists call taxa, however people who don't know about this science call it the cycle of life.
The taxa are the steps in which the characteristics of each of the animals are established, to determine to which species they belong.
Carl von Linnaeus plays an important role in this matter since he was the one who began to use this system to classify taxonomic categories of animals, There are currently other studies that can be carried out to determine the species Taxonomy, For example, DNA testing.
Taxa in the taxonomic classification of animals
As the taxonomic classification of animals is carried out in the form of a hierarchy, we can say that we are going to start with the strongest animal kingdom and we are going to end with those with the animals that have fewer characteristics.
We can give an example of how animals are classified, since in the animal kingdom there is so much variety but there are very few whose characteristics are similar, that is, there is a step in the taxa that defines the species, this step is programmed from the animal that has more characteristics in common with others, to the one that only has one characteristic in common with the others.
In the taxonomy of the animal kingdom at the first level of the hierarchy we will achieve dominance in this taxon we can mention, for example, animals such as:
- El Tigre, which belongs to the wild animal kingdom, a carnivorous feline, without comparison with another feline, since its taxonomy is totally different.
- The bear, which also belongs to the wild kingdom, but at a lower hierarchical level, since a tiger can feed on a bear and this is where we talk about the cycle of life.
- The elephant, despite remaining in the same kingdom, its size and weight place it in a good category of the taxon. Among this species can be found Asian elephant.
If they classify them in the form of a pyramid, we will start from the top level, that is, the top of the pyramid, as follows:
- Domain
- Reino
- edge or division
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Gender
- Species
What is a species in the animal world?
The species of the animals is based on the characteristics that they possess and on how they can reproduce, it will also depend on how fertile they are, in order to reproduce quickly and be able to have a greater number of species.
This is important so as not to place it in danger of extinction, at present we can say that there are many species in danger of extinction and it is caused by different factors, but nevertheless, the most influential factor is the reproduction capacity of this animal. .
The scientific name or nomenclature
Animals are assigned a scientific name and to facilitate their pronunciation before man they are given a common name in the same way.
The scientific description is assigned according to its origin, species and characteristics, for this they are guided by the taxonomic classification of animals, this system to assign the scientific name is called binomial identification and with this they make the species known by the same name by around the world.
For example the common name is galapagos tortoises, but its scientific name is Chelonoidis nigra, as you can see the scientific name is much more difficult to pronounce, and this is the reason why they give the animals a common name, let's take into account that the common name and the scientific name is known worldwide.
Other classification criteria
Over the years, science has advanced in terms of the taxonomic classification of animals, it has discovered certain systems that can help humanity to differentiate taxa, man is not going to name them scientifically but if they can observe the characteristics and determine in What step is the animal positioned on?
We will mention some systems that science has currently applied, starting with the system of taxa:
- Evolutionary or classical system: This system is based on the classical, characteristics, reproduction, feeding, species, animal kingdom, if they belong to the category of Wild animals or domestic animals, the truth is that in this system it is like putting together a family tree and from there they obtain the necessary data to determine the animals.
With this system they classify:
- The cats
- The reptiles
- The birds
- phenetic system: This system is based more than anything on numerical systems, in terms of organisms and the morphology of each animal.
This system is highly criticized at a scientific level, since some points of view agree that this system does not represent the species in its entirety, just as it differentiates the species according to the least amount of equality it has with another.
This causes there to be a variation in the taxa and that is why they use computer systems, in order to carry out a more complete and correct job, this system basically handles animals that are new specimens discovered in herds or groups.
- Phylogenetic or cladistic system: It is the most accepted system by science, since it is based on its genealogy, DNA, ancestry, that is, it does not share the theory of taxa, but it knows how to hit and approach the species, without affecting that chain of command that it has , for example carnivorous mammals and harmless mammals.
For example, whales all belong to the same species of aquatic mammals, however there are species of whales that are carnivorous and this one is on a higher level, of the pyramid that we mentioned earlier than those that are not carnivorous that only eat fish from the sea or krill, among other substances that can be found at the bottom of the ocean.
This type of system concludes the classification of animals, in the form of a diagram and this is the most used today, since many hybrids have been produced, by mixing species which are not known or scientifically named.