Species Classification Basics
How scientists organise life from kingdom to species, with examples from the Biosphere catalog.
A short learning guide to biological classification: the main taxonomic ranks, how scientific names work, and how to read classification on Biosphere species profiles.
- Organization
- Biosphere
- Type
- education
- Format
- guide
- Audience
- students, educators
- Topics
- taxonomy, biodiversity
Key information
- Level: Introductory
- Suggested use: Classroom or self-study
Classification groups organisms by their shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships. Each level, or rank, is nested inside the one above it.
The main ranks
- Domain
- Kingdom
- Phylum
- Class
- Order
- Family
- Genus
- Species
Two examples
| Rank | Blue whale | Tiger |
|---|---|---|
| Kingdom | Animalia | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia | Mammalia |
| Order | Artiodactyla | Carnivora |
| Family | Balaenopteridae | Felidae |
| Genus | Balaenoptera | Panthera |
| Species | Balaenoptera musculus | Panthera tigris |
Scientific names
Every species has a two-part scientific name (binomial nomenclature): the genus followed by the species epithet, written in italics. The system was popularised by Carl Linnaeus in the 18th century and lets scientists everywhere refer to the same organism without confusion.