Classification
Classification is an arrangement of organisms
into groups on the basis of their similarities
The grouping is done from less inclusive to
more inclusive group until the organisms are
assembled into a final most inclusive group”
The sequence of classification follows a fixed
system of hierarchy of categories such as
species-genus-family-order and so on.
The classification process includes assigning
appropriate position and rank to a new taxon
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Types of classification
The classification of the living organisms is
of the following types
1. Artificial system of classification
2. Natural system of classification
3. Phylogenetic system of classification
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Artificial System of Classification
It is the oldest and first approach of
classification of plants which is based on few
superficial characters
It is utilitarian, based on arbitrary, easily
observable few characters such as habit,
habitat, phenology, number of plant parts
(e.g. cotyledons), or floral characters
(particularly the number of stamens and
carpels).
It cannot describe and classify all plants
correctly since it involves only a few
characters. Ex Linnaeus system of
classification
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Advantages:
Makes the classification simple and easy
Less time consuming and manage to classify with
little information of one or two characters only
Poorly known plants can be classified easily
Less instruments of classification are needed
Disadvantages:
It is not universally applicable
The choice of characters are arbitrary so, the
exact correlation cannot be established
Various unrelated taxa, which are not at all
related but, similar in one respect only, have been
placed under the same group
Cannot establish evolutionary relationships
among taxa.
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Natural System of Classification
It is the classification of the plants
which is
based on the maximum natural
characteristics
and their relationship.
It is based on morphology, cytology,
anatomy, embryology and various other
characteristics
Ex. Bentham and Hooker system of
classification
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Advantages:
Makes the classification more inclusive
It can be used for bold prediction of
ranks and categories for newly
identified plants.
Contains more exclusive information
about the taxonomic hierarchy.
It can help to predict properties of
even not-so-closely related species
Members of different groups are
mostly similar in hereditary pattern.
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Disadvantages:
The complexity level is more than
artificial
Confusing and time consuming
Less known plants cannot be
classified through this system since
their characteristics are not fully
defined.
A single property of interest cannot
be taken into consideration for
classification
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Phylogenetic System of Classification
The system of classification based on
the evolutionary significance is known
as phylogenetic system of classification
Various aspects of the characteristics
are taken into consideration for this
classification
It is purely scientific system of
classification
Ex Engler and Prantle, Hutchinson,
Cronquist system of classification
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Advantages:
It involves past history or ancestral history.
It has a higher predictive capacity than any other
known classification.
More detailed and scientific in nature.
It can help to trace back the evolutionary history of
a plant and their family
Disadvantages:
The complexity level is maximum than any other
known classification.
Confusing and time consuming.
Phenotypic characters are not given importance.
Same looking species can be grouped together if
they share common phylogeny even at distant level.
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Heirarchic system in classification
Taxonomic hierarchy is the process of arranging
various organisms into successive levels of the
biological classification either in a decreasing or an
increasing order from kingdom to species and vice
versa
Taxonomic hierarchy refers to the sequence of
categories in increasing or decreasing order
Kingdom is the highest rank and species is the lowest
rank in the hierarchy.
Each of this level of the hierarchy is called the
taxonomic category or rank.
In this system of classification, kingdom is always
ranked the highest followed by division, class, order,
family, genus, and species.
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Carolus Linnaeus is known as the
Two Kingdom System of Classification
“Father of Classification.”
He proposed the Two Kingdoms
Classification in 1758.
He divided all living things into two
kingdoms
The two kingdoms are
1. Kingdom Plantae
2. Kingdom Animalia
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Limitation of two kingdom system of classification
There was no distinction between prokaryotic
and eukaryotic organisms and were placed
under the same kingdom
There was no distinction between unicellular
and multicellular organisms and were placed
under the same kingdom
There was no distinction between autotrophic
algae and heterotrophic fungi and were
placed under the same kingdom
The organisms like Euglena neither classified
as plant nor as animal
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Three Kingdom System of Classification
Three kingdom system of classification was
put forward by Ernst Haeckel in 1868 in
order to overcome the limitations of the Two
Kingdom System of Classification.
Haeckel suggested that the inconsistencies of
the two-kingdom system could be avoided by
the recognition of a third kingdom
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He proposed kingdom Protista as a new
kingdom to accommodate organisms
exhibiting characters either common to both
plants and animals, or unique to their own.
Basically the third kingdom was created to
include the neutral organisms which were
neither plants nor animals.
The three kingdoms were
1. Kingdom Plantae
2. Kingdom Animalia
3. Kingdom Protista
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Limitation of three kingdom system of classification
He considered the monerans as protists as
they were quite different from each other
His system was not widely accepted and
microorganisms continued to be classified as
plants (for example, bacteria and fungi) or
animals (for example, protozoa).
Nucleated and anucleated organisms were
kept together in the kingdom protista.
Heterotrophic bacteria and fungi were placed
along with autotrophic algae under the same
kingdom
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Four Kingdom System of Classification
The inventions of Electron
microscopes help to reveal important
distinctions between prokaryotes
and eukaryotes.
Thus, H.F. Copeland in 1956
introduced 4 kingdom system of
classification due to the limitation of
3 kingdom system.
The 4 kingdoms are
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1. Kingdom Monera: It includes the
prokaryotic organisms with
unicellular or simply colonial
organization. Ex. Bacteria and BGA
2. Kingdom Protoctista (Protista): It
includes lower eukaryotic organisms
which were unicellular colonial forms
and multicellular without advanced
tissue differentiation. Ex. Algae other
than BGA, protozoans, slime moulds
and fungi.
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4.Kingdom Metaphyta or
Embryophyta: It includes higher
eukaryotic and multicellular
organisms which bear cell wall and
plastids. There is well differentiation
of tissues and lack of motility. Ex. All
the plants
5.Kingdom Metazoa: It includes
higher eukaryotic multicellular
organisms without cell wall and
plastids. Mostly the organisms are
with internal digestive cavities and
have motility. There is advanced cell,
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Characteristics of 4 kingdom system of classification
Unicellular organisms were included
into two large kingdoms Monera and
Protista
Bacteria and blue green algae were
placed under the kingdom Monera
The kingdom Monera included only
prokaryotic organisms
The kingdoms Protista, Plantae, and
Animalia included the eukaryotic
organisms.
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Limitation of four kingdom system of classification
The fungi were placed in the kingdom
protoctista which was one of the
drawbacks of the four kingdom
classification.
The kingdom protoctista was thought to
be primarily unicellular but the kingdom
also included multicellular forms
The kingdom protoctista lack the unity
and clarity of divisions as it possesses
varied forms of organisms.
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Five Kingdom System of Classification
R. H. Whittaker’s System
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Concept of Six Kingdom System of Classification
Due to the limitation of five kingdom system
of classification, Carl Woese in 1977
developed 6 kingdom system of classification.
The six kingdoms are:
Kingdom Eubacteria
Kingdom Archaebacteria
Kingdom Protista
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Animalia
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Woese was not satisfied with the concept of 6
kingdoms due to the following reasons:
It did not show that all the four eukaryotic
kingdoms are closely related to each other
It did not show that the two bacteria are
quite different from each other
So, he introduced 3 Domain systems in 1990.
The domain are taxon higher than kingdom.
The 3 domains are
Domain Arhae: It includes kingdom
Archaebacteria
Domain Bacteria: It includes kingdom
Bacteria
Domain Eukarya:
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It includes kingdom
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In 1998, Cavlier Smith had published six kingdom
system of classification which was continuously
revised. The revised version was published in
2009. According to him, the six kingdoms are
Kingdom Bacteria
Kingdom Protozoa
Kingdom Chromista
Kingdom Plantae
Kingdom Fungi
Kingdom Animalia
He did not consider that the bacteria and
archaebacteria has to be separated.
He created a new kingdom chromista for the
autotrophic
organisms having
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